Free Speech Australia

Posted on March 4, 2012 by KG

This matters. It really matters, so please, Aussies, get off your backsides and help.
Update: Take a look at some of the evil bastards behind this. Bolt has the details
Add: I just wrote this in comments:
“Should this thing come to pass, I’m damned if I’d try to justify in court anything I’d written.
The position would be simple and crystal-clear: We have a right to express whatever opinion we like, subject to the laws regarding defamation.
Anything else is none of our employee’s damn business.
It’s too easy for people to become bogged down in arguments about content (as Bolt did) and to lose sight of the fundamental right which is being violated simply by being dragged into court.”

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

34 Responses to Free Speech Australia

  1. The Gantt Guy says:
    March 4, 2012 at 20:46

    This is big. It’s huge. All of the worst totalitarian regimes try to silence dissent, and this is the Brown/Gillard government’s attempt. This is worse than the “racial vilification” laws, it’s worse than anything else they’ve done.

  2. KG says:
    March 4, 2012 at 20:55

    It surely is. I expect major news outlets to lead the charge against it, but all Aussies, regardless of political affiliation need to rebel against this.
    Never in my life did I imagine an Australian government would try such a blatantly totalitarian move.

    • The Gantt Guy says:
      March 4, 2012 at 21:10

      Come on mate, this was telegraphed as soon as Bob Brown demanded it. In typical leftist fashion, he can’t win the contest of ideas and has only one argument left: Shut Up!

      • KG says:
        March 4, 2012 at 21:11

        You’re right. I should have said “never in my life–until the illegitimate Gillard/Brown government got in..”

      • Pascal says:
        March 5, 2012 at 02:36

        …0nly one argument left: Shut Up!

        Great! That reminds me of Shut Up!

        Can you find a competent talent to make an Australian version of that video to specifically make your point and then spread it across the web while you still have time?

        Pile the scorn high enough and you may yet dodge this bullet.

        • The Gantt Guy says:
          March 5, 2012 at 04:48

          Pascal, I’m a long time fan of Klavan on the Culture (I wish I had that talent for fighting what you hate by ridiculing it) and that vid is exactly what I was thinking of when I posted my comment! :mrgreen:

          • Pascal says:
            March 5, 2012 at 05:24

            Because of your exclamation point, I thought you might.

            Hey, why don’t we simply delete this and the two preceding comments, and simply add the link to where you said Shut Up!? :lol:

            KG: You have mail.

  3. KG says:
    March 4, 2012 at 21:24

    Very, very few politicians of whatever stripe have ever got rid of legislation which takes power from the people and gives it to government.
    Somebody like Andrew Bolt needs to bluntly ask the question of him.

  4. KG says:
    March 4, 2012 at 21:38

    O/T, but this is the same FBI which refused to investigate Obama’s illegal campaign donations from foreign (Arab) sources!
    ‘NEW YORK –  The FBI is considering whether to open an investigation into allegations that followers of a New York City rabbi made illegal campaign contributions to U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, according to a law enforcement official.’
    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/03/fbi-may-probe-new-york-congressmans-fundraising/

    • The Gantt Guy says:
      March 4, 2012 at 21:44

      The funnies can’t do anything about Zero’s contributions from Fakestine, because Zero’s agents destroyed the records.

      Nothing to see here folks. Move along.

      • KG says:
        March 4, 2012 at 21:50

        That’s right, I forgot the records had been accidentally trashed/lost /eaten by my puppy…

  5. The Gantt Guy says:
    March 4, 2012 at 22:08

    Completely O/T, but I’m listening to the Mark Levin podcast from Friday and he said he’s having Thomas Sowell on the show next Wednesday. Now *that* will be a treat!

    • KG says:
      March 4, 2012 at 22:29

      Thomas Sowell is outstanding and him and Levin together….wonderful. It would be worth seeing if we can put up a link to it.

  7. KG says:
    March 4, 2012 at 22:31

    I’ll try to figure out how to put a link over on the sidebar.

  8. KG says:
    March 5, 2012 at 05:15

    Hmm..that was a failure. Will keep trying.

  9. Moist von Lipwig says:
    March 5, 2012 at 05:25

    Prof Bunyip. Has a few words on the subject and another contact.

  10. KG says:
    March 5, 2012 at 05:45

    Andrew Bolt, this morning:
    ‘…License publishers of print and online news, the criterion being that the publisher is a ‘fit and proper person’—an option with a surprising number of supporters, most but not all of whom are members of the advocacy group Avaaz.
    Avaaz? Who are these people who flooded this inquiry with demands to license the free press in Australia? I bet it was those evil rightwingers wasn’t it?…
    Avaaz.org was co-founded by Res Publica, a “community of public sector professionals dedicated to promoting good governance, civic virtue and deliberative democracy”,[2] and MoveOn.org, a George Soros-funded[3], American non-profit progressive public policy advocacy group.[4][5] It was also supported by Service Employees International Union, a founding partner, and GetUp!, an Australian non-profit campaigning organization.
    Ok…
    http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/media_inquiry_wants_to_control_even_blogs_with_a_reader_a_day/

    • Pascal says:
      March 5, 2012 at 06:04

      “even blogs with a reader a day.”

      LOL. What about when the bulk of a blog’s reader are the government agents?

      I have less than a handful of regular commenters. But I am visited, sometimes 3 times daily, from various IPs around the globe from which no comments are ever forthcoming. Not only that, but these are IPs whose initial inquiries are ones that spent hours going to one month after another on my blog (but only fractions of a minute on each page) before they become regular “readers.” Just because it sounds paranoid doesn’t mean you are not being watched.

      “Because [enter your url here] corrupts our government agents, [your url] must be shut down!” :evil:

  11. St Hubbins says:
    March 5, 2012 at 08:30

    Andrew Bolt is one of the primary targets here.

    But don’t think that small blogs like yours are too far behind.

    Could you imagine being FORCED to print whatever “retractions” or “corrections” these bureaucrats demand?

    This is an extremely important issue.

  12. KG says:
    March 5, 2012 at 08:51

    “Could you imagine being FORCED to print whatever “retractions” or “corrections” these bureaucrats demand?”
    St Hubbins, no, I can’t. Because I’ll go to jail rather than do it. Further, we refuse to self-censor here so we’d certainly attract the Net Stasi’s attention.
    Let’s see how many bloggers they’re prepared to jail, how many show trials they can afford to mount.
    And let’s see how they’ll deal with the publicity of bloggers arriving in the USA and applying for political asylum… :twisted:

  13. KG says:
    March 5, 2012 at 09:13

    Should this thing come to pass, I’m damned if I’d try to justify in court anything I’d written.
    The position would be simple and crystal-clear: We have a right to express whatever opinion we like, subject to the laws regarding defamation.
    Anything else is none of our employee’s damn business.
    It’s too easy for people to become bogged down in arguments about content (as Bolt did) and to lose sight of the fundamental right which is being violated simply by being dragged into court.