One Nation Senator-elect Malcolm Roberts appears to pride himself on his ability to research, but he might need a bit of help when it comes to 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. On Insiders yesterday, the sovereign citizen himself claimed that section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act was a dastardly plan by Julia Gillard to get Andrew Bolt:

“This was all done, as I understand it, to nobble Andrew Bolt, and Julia Gillard did that. So we have to remove this so that we can have a recent — a decent discussion on the actual issues.”

Interesting that Julia Gillard had the foresight back in 1995 before she was in Parliament to “nobble Bolt”.

Want the real origins? From our “research” (i.e. a quick Google search) …

From the Eatock v Bolt decision:

“Part IIA [which includes 18C] was inserted into the Racial Discrimination Act in 1995.”

From the Human Rights Commission:

“Sections 18C and 18D were introduced in response to recommendations of major inquiries including the National Inquiry into Racist Violence and the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. These inquiries found that racial hatred and vilification can cause emotional and psychological harm to their targets, and reinforce other forms of discrimination and exclusion.”

Bolt’s case is one of dozens that have used 18C in the past two decades. Ms Tips thinks if Julia Gillard had a time machine, she’d probably do something different rather than go back in time to legislate to hurt Bolt’s feelings. There’s a day in 2010 that probably could have gone a bit better.