A Victorian Liberal Senator has joined her fellow Coalition backbenchers in pushing for changes to the Racial Discrimination Act.
Backbencher Jane Hume was the only Coalition senator who had not signed on to the bill put forward by Senator Cory Bernardi last week, which is seeking to remove the words “insult” and “offend” from the RDA.
Senator Hume says she was “broadly supportive” of the bill and thinks removing the words ‘offend’ and ‘insult’ are a measured response, but chose not to sign last week as she had not yet delivered her first speech in Parliament.
While the number of Coalition members supporting the bill has grown, the PM last week said the government had “more pressing issues” to address.
Senator Bernardi says he will keep working to convince the party over the next three years to back the changes.