'N*gger' slur offensive, says Qld. Premier



Ms Bligh is not the brightest so may have been unaware that on March 19, 2002, in the "N*gger Brown" case, the High Court of Australia rejected the allegation that the word "N*gger was offensive in Australia. Under the doctrine of "Stare decisis" that finding was binding on the magistrate

Note: I use an asterisk in order to avoid falling foul of Google


PREMIER Anna Bligh has taken issue with a Gold Coast magistrate who ruled the term "n*gger" was not offensive and suggested his views are "last century". Ms Bligh also says Queensland's racial vilification laws may need looking at at in light of the ruling.

Southport magistrate Michael O'Driscoll on Monday threw out a charge against a Gold Coast man charged with sending an offensive fax to local Labor MP Peta Kaye-Croft's office. In the fax, 62-year-old Denis Mulheron called on the ALP to tighten immigration laws against 'niggers' and "sandnigger terrorists". He also described indigenous Australians as "Abos".

Mr Mulheron argued he was was using "everyday English" but Ms Kaye-Croft's electorate officer, who received the fax, said she was disturbed and offended. However, Mr O'Driscoll ruled that Mr Mulheron's words were "crude, unattractive and direct ... but were not offensive to a reasonable person".


Ms Bligh, who was on the Gold Coast yesterday to announce Queensland had secured three-year hosting rights for the NRL's Indigenous All-Stars match, said she found "n*gger" to be a "highly offensive" word. "I think most Australians would find that kind of language highly offensive. I certainly find it highly offensive," she said. "They're the sort of words that I don't think have any place in modern Australia. They're not the sort of words I hear most reasonable people using. "Most reasonable Australians would find it not only offensive but a part of the last century."

Ms Bligh said while she had her 'own views' on Mr Mulheron's language, it may not have met the standard of proof required by the courts. "The test is, from the courts, whether they think this would meet (the views of) the reasonable person in the street," she said. "There'll always be a difference of opinion about what that might be."

Mr Mulheron was charged with using a carriage service, namely a fax machine, to menace, harass or offend - an offence which carries up to three years' jail. The Queensland Anti-Discrimination Act says serious racial vilification is a criminal offence, with a maximum penalty of a $7000 fine or six months' jail.

Asked whether Queensland's racial vilification laws needed changing, Ms Bligh said she would need to seek legal advice. But she believed the laws were as "as strong as anything in the country".

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