[no bill text published] NSW Referendum Requirement for Limiting Rights and Freedoms

Constitution Amendment (Rights and Freedoms-Referendum) Bill 2023

Private Member's Bill

20 Mar 2024: This bill was voted against and will not be discussed further (Defeated).

Legislative Council

Legislative Assembly

Assent

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Topics

civil liberties constitutional law human rights referendum voting rights

Introduced by: John Ruddick MLC (LIBT)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Official page: bill text and explanatory notes

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

The NSW Parliament must submit a bill to limit certain rights and freedoms to a referendum.
Qualified voters for the Legislative Assembly will decide the outcome.
The vote happens on the same day as the next general election.
The referendum cannot occur within two months of the bill passing both houses.
The vote must follow the rules set out in the Constitution Further Amendment (Referendum) Act 1930.

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

John Graham ALP

“On behalf of the Government, I speak in debate on the Constitution Amendment (Rights and Freedoms) Bill 2023 and the Constitution Amendment (Rights and Freedoms—Referendum) Bill 2023. I thank the Hon. John Ruddick for bringing the bills to the House for debate. I recognise his sincere passion for the issue of freedom of expression and the thoughts that he outlined in his second reading speech.”

Official source →

Susan Carter LIB

“Free speech is one of our most important rights, and one that we should always be anxious to protect—as is the right to worship freely and to associate together. There is much in the spirit of these pieces of legislation that is commendable. The devil, as always, is in the detail.”

Official source →

Mark Latham IND

“I support the Constitution Amendment (Rights and Freedoms) Bill 2023 and the Constitution Amendment (Rights and Freedoms–Referendum) Bill 2023 because I believe that in the current environment anything that furthers free speech in our society is worth supporting. Restrictions on free speech have become a dreadful thing in politics.”

Official source →

John Ruddick LIBT

“I was honoured to have the great Hon. Mark Latham so enthusiastically support these bills. To recap, the Constitution Amendment (Rights and Freedoms) Bill 2023 is about trying to restrict the power of this Chamber and this Parliament to prohibit the citizens of New South Wales from having open expression.”

Official source →

News articles and press releases

Constitution Amendment (Rights and Freedoms-Referendum) Bill 2023

The Hon. JOHN RUDDICK — 2023-11-29

The Constitution Amendment (Rights and Freedoms) Bill 2023 and Constitution Amendment (Rights and Freedoms—Referendum) Bill 2023 seek to constitutionally protect the right to free speech in New South Wales. The bills are concerned with preventing this or future New South Wales governments from enacting legislation that would curtail open expression. The second bill seeks to entrench this constitutional right so that it can only be overridden by a referendum of the citizens of New South Wales.