An Australian member of parliament was stopped from speaking in the middle of a debate over free speech.
Bill Shorten, the leader of Australia’s Labor Party, (pictured above) was stopped from speaking while attempting to criticize proposals by the government to change racial discrimination laws.
Shorten was silenced after 74 MPs voted to cut short his time, which he was using to deride prime minister Malcolm Turnbull for his “cynical” legislation.
As Heat Street reported earlier this week, Australian politicians are attempting to amend the nation’s Racial Discrimination Act so that it is no longer illegal to offend somebody.
They instead want to change the text of the legislation so that only exchanges which “harass” or “intimidate” people because of their race are a matter for the courts. Those who break the law are eligible for large fines.
Turnbull and others say the current legislation has “lost its credibility” and must be amended to stop spurious claims and defend freedom of speech.
However, their determination to protect free speech did not extend to the speech Shorten was trying to make.
He piqued fellow legislators by proposing a motion deriding what he called “a cynical attempt by the Prime Minister to be able to claim to the extreme elements in his party room that his Government is taking action…”
Shortly after he finished describing his motion, an official called for a vote on whether Shorten should be forced to stop speaking. It passed by 74 votes to 69.