18 Things Starting With C That Are More Important Than Debating 18C

    *Cough* climate change.

    by Mark Di Stefano, Alice Workman, Lane Sainty

    On Tuesday, prime minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that a parliamentary committee would conduct an inquiry into section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.

    The Australian

    That's the section that makes it unlawful to "offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate" a person on racial grounds.

    Some members of the government say the section restricts freedom of speech in Australia.

    The inquiry means there'll be many more months of debate around 18C, so here are 18 other things that are way more important:

    1. Cost of living.

    William West / AFP / Getty Images

    It's getting hard out there, especially for those living in capital cities AND because of the ballooning cost of services in rural areas.

    2. Constitutional recognition.

    Torsten Blackwood / AFP / Getty Images

    The constitutional recognition referendum was supposed to take place in 2017... it's fallen completely off the agenda.

    3. Car manufacturing.

    Carl Court / Getty Images

    Car factory closures in South Australia and Victoria have left thousands of people out of work.

    4. Crime.

    Spencer Platt / Getty Images

    It's a problem.

    5. Cancer.

    Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

    Malcolm Turnbull announced last week that Australia would push to have a 100% survival rate for childhood cancers by 2020.

    6. Counter-terrorism.

    Bruno Fahy / AFP / Getty Images

    This doesn't need an explanation, right?

    7. Crimea.

    Alexander Aksakov / Getty Images

    Since being annexed by Russia, Crimea has been a source of growing tension between Russia and the West. Let's talk about it.

    8. CFMEU.

    Scott Barbour / Getty Images

    Just yesterday, Peter Dutton told the parliament "Everyone of course has a story of a CFMEU union thug turning up on a building site and running riot.” EVERYONE.

    9. Climate change.

    David Mcnew / Getty Images

    The reef has been bleached to a crisp, but in the parliament, the focus is on One Nation's Malcolm Roberts and his merry band of climate sceptics.

    10. Coding.

    Juergen Schwarz / Getty Images

    Coding is the future, or so we are told.

    11. China.

    Kevin Frayer / Getty Images

    China. It's big, it's near us. What's the deal?

    12. CSIRO funding.

    Handout / Getty Images

    This a really important issue. Nearly as important as how to pronounce the acronym C.S.I.R.O. Is it, cee ess eye arr oh? Or... SYRO?

    13. Classroom sizes.

    Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

    Classrooms in Australia are bigger than they are in any other country in the OECD. It's typically 24 kids per room. Would you want to deal with 24 kids for six hours a day?

    14. Chicken factory farming.

    Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP / Getty Images

    Skip ahead if you're squeamish. More than 400 million chickens are raised in factory farms in Australia every year. They live in dimly lit sheds with tens of thousands of other birds, grow at three times their natural rate, and are slaughtered when they're just five weeks old.

    15. Cybersecurity.

    Lluis Gene / AFP / Getty Images

    No one is safe. Watch Mr Robot.

    16. Creeps.

    Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

    Creeping on you. Creeping on me.

    17. Commitment.

    Eric Estrade / AFP / Getty Images

    Mariah Carey and James Packer. Brangelina. Karl Stefanovic and Cassandra Thorburn.

    Have we lost that loving feeling?

    18. Clowns.

    Leon Neal / AFP / Getty Images

    "Killer clown stabs woman on the leg through her letterbox."

    'Nuff said.