A Rebecca White Tasmanian Labor Government will take serious action on racism by creating new offences in the Criminal Code and the Police Offences Act as well as investing in service delivery, education and community development to make sure Tasmania is a safe and inclusive community for migrant communities.
A Labor Government will create a series of new offences to ensure people who commit crimes motivated by racism, sexism, homophobia, disability discrimination or other forms of hatred can be charged with hate crimes.
While the majority of Tasmanians value our growing multicultural communities, it is deeply saddening to know that racially motivated assaults and attacks are also increasing in number to the point where many communities don’t feel safe any more and this must be changed.
We will also legislate for a Human Rights Act, and protect, defend and strengthen our Anti Discrimination Act.
And we will amend the Sentencing Act to allow sexuality, religion, political affiliation and disability to be considered as aggravating factors – alongside the existing aggravating factors of racial hatred or racism – enabling higher sentences for people whose crimes were motivated by hate.
In addition to these legislative changes, Labor is also committed to several other policies to strengthen our multicultural communities.
Labor will also appoint a Minister for Multicultural Affairs to ensure our multicultural communities have a loud and tangible voice within government, and create an Anti-Racism Taskforce to develop a whole-of-government anti-racism strategy.
We will also provide an additional $500,000 a year for the Multicultural Council of Tasmania in addition to their existing funding, so they can continue the valuable work they do as the peak body for multicultural communities, and strengthen the multicultural working groups that exist across government.
Part of this work will include working with other multicultural representative bodies and directly with community on an anti racism education campaign to tackle racism and make communities safer.
Tasmanian Labor values our growing multicultural communities and believes they are an integral part of Tasmanian society.
It’s time for a better future and a Labor Government will work to stamp out racism and keep all Tasmanians safe, valued and free from intolerance.
Read more on Labor’s multicultural affairs portfolio at this link: https://taslabor.org.au/news/policy-announcements/valuing-our-multicultural-communities/
Links to my fact sheets:
Integrity
Corrections Justice
Multicultural
Equality
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