The breakaway Liberal senator Cory Bernardi is using the failure of a parliamentary committee to recommend changes to 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act as a recruitment drive for his new Australian Conservatives movement.
Bernardi, who led the renewed push inside the Liberal party to overhaul 18C immediately after last year’s federal election, before parting ways with the government this year, has pounced on the lack of resolution from the committee process.
In his weekly email missive to supporters, Bernardi declared it was time to take a stand. “This snowflake-protecting, damaging ideology and its proponents are hurting our country,” the South Australian senator wrote.
“The 18C scandal takes on new importance as identity politics and the competing rights agenda are used by the left to undermine civil society.
“The fact that a number of members of the committee couldn’t break out of that nexus suggests that the PC infection has contaminated swathes of the Liberal party too.
“If the political class won’t support freedom of speech what will they support? What other of your freedoms will they limit to make their already-cosy lives easier?”
Bernardi says Australian Conservatives is committed to taking the free speech message up to the “political class”, and notes “thousands of people have already joined the movement, determined to change politics”.
He notes that founding memberships are open until 7 March.
On Tuesday the parliament’s human rights committee tabled a bipartisan report after a three-month public inquiry floating 22 options for the Turnbull government to consider – but the new report stops short of making specific recommendations on legislative changes to the RDA because the committee members could not reach consensus.
The lack of a settled roadmap puts the ball firmly back in the prime minister’s court, and will ensure that the rolling controversy over the RDA returns both to the cabinet and the Coalition party room for a third significant phase of debate.
Backbenchers have already resumed the government’s long-running internal argument, with the Liberal party’s right faction arguing in favour of legislative change to 18C, and party moderates arguing the only change necessary to the current regime is procedural.
Senior ministers have moved to play down the need for urgent action on 18C. On Wednesday, the treasurer, Scott Morrison, said reforming 18C would not create jobs or make housing more affordable.
“I’m focused on people’s wages, I’m focused on people’s investment and I know this issue doesn’t create one job, doesn’t open one business, doesn’t give anyone one extra hour, it doesn’t reduce the cost or make housing more affordable or energy more affordable,” Morrison said.
The foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, told reporters the resolution of the 18C issue was a matter for discussion in the cabinet and party room.
She said reforming 18C was an issue “rarely raised” in her electorate, and she was focused on “presenting a foreign policy white paper to protect our interests around the world as an open, liberal democracy based on human rights, the rule of law, institutions and an export-oriented market economy”.
The Labor leader, Bill Shorten, used a statement to parliament to echo Morrison’s formulation about changes to 18C not making any positive contribution to job creation. “Giving a green light to racism won’t solve the traffic jams in the great suburbs of Australia,” he said. “It will not help pensioners pay for their bills.”
Shorten declared the 18C debate was a metaphor for the Turnbull government: “Divided down the middle, two camps, and no one in charge.”
He said Turnbull should rule out the “right to be a bigot, once and for all”.
