Hate speech law one ‘step too far’
The idea of a new hate speech law in the wake of the Israel Folau gay controversy is ‘‘a step too far’’, says National Party deputy leader Paula Bennett.
But she also told The AM Show she wasn’t sure she respected Folau’s right to make the comments he did about homosexuals, when such language could be extremely harmful to some young people.
Earlier this month, Australian rugby star Folau – a devout Christian – wrote in a comment on Instagram that God’s plan for homosexuals was ‘‘Hell, unless they repent of their sins and turn to God’’.
Last week in a column on Players Voice, Folau said suggestions that he was bigoted or had problems with gay people ‘‘could not be further from the truth’’ but he ‘‘could never shy away from who I am or what I believe’’.
Asked if she defended Folau’s right to say what he did, even though she didn’t agree with it, Bennett said: ‘‘I think I do at some level ... As a young man, he should have thought about his wider audience, and I wish he’d done that.
‘‘So, I’m not sure I do respect his right to say something like that when it could be extremely harmful to some young people out there that perhaps don’t quite have the maturity to see it as one person’s view.
‘‘But as far as there being laws, or anything like that, I think that’s a step too far,’’ Bennett said.
‘‘There’s got to be some boundaries, and certainly we’ve got to see them, particularly when it comes down to, I think, racism, sexism, and even ... your rights to have your religious beliefs.’’
Folau might be someone that a young person going through life changes looked up to, Bennett said, and his comments were objectionable.
‘‘To hear something like that, I think, can have a telling effect on them.
‘‘So if there’s any of them there listening, I want them to know that there’s a whole lot of us that just go, ’good luck in whoever you are, and whoever you may fall in love with, it’s perfectly acceptable, it doesn’t matter, and we just wish you lots of love and a good life’.’’
New Zealand does not have hate speech legislation, as such, although section 61 of the Human Rights Act deals with behaviour involving publishing threatening, abusive or insulting words that would excite hostility to any group of persons on the basis of colour, race or ethnic origins.
On the other hand, section 14 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act provides the right to free speech and expression.