11 Comments

> The bill’s trajectory exposes a deeper narrative about how contemporary progressive culture has inadvertently become a vehicle for speech control. While I believe the core global actors pushing speech control are centrist, contemporary Left-wing culture has provided an excellent Trojan horse, via its collectivist concerns about public health, identity politics, online bullying and environmental issues.

Useful idiots. Thank goodness they seem to be losing.

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Those last 2 sentences: I couldn't agree more full heartedly. Speaking as an Australian.

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As far as I understood, much of the reason that the bill was withdrawn was that senators the last line of defence to getting the bill approved were flooded with regular people writing emails and phoning their offices to say 'no'. I doubt they would have bothered to say 'no' if it wasn't for the threat that they would loose there seats at the next election??

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“state-controlled information management.” Love the distilled power point.

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Excellent! Thank you, Andrew

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Disagree that Australia has show the way, It never should have come to this in the first place.

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Excuse me, but no way is The Guardian progressive. It pretends to be, and there are still a few good writers, but The Guardian really isn't your guardian, it is the instrument of British power - ask Julian Assange.

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The Greens opposed the legislation because it did not go far enough !!!

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Australia is in no way leading a freedom of speech movement, but this is a good start.

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Whilst Australians were focused on the US election, the Australian Labor government introduced a special standing order to fast-track the Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill 2024, effectively circumventing normal parliamentary processes and procedural steps, in order to ram through the proposed legislation.

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I would have added the caveat, for now. I rejection in the senate doesn't necessarily mean the Bill won't be amended and represented.

Is technocracy the problem, or is it really fascism? When the issue is freedom of speech, it comes down to are we free people; or are we prisoners of a dictatorship?

Criminalising opinions the government disapproves of, are not the actions of a government IN SERVICE to it's people.

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