In the two decades between 1990 and 2010, just 4000 formal complaints have been made, amounting to only 200 complaints a year. In comparison, police convict 12 000 people in NSW alone for using offensive language or conduct.
Cory Bernardi once said
Quote:Sometimes, in politics and life, there are things so important that they need to be defended under any circumstances. For lovers of freedom and jousters in the battle of ideas, one of those principles is freedom of speech.
Fair point. It makes sense that he would be up in arms at every attack on free speech, fuming at the very thought that people aren’t able to speak openly. Yet where were the defenders of free speech when the Border Force Act made it possible for a doctor, welfare worker or an “entrusted person” to be imprisoned for 2 years if they speak out about abuses in detention – a blatant restriction of freedom of speech? Oh yeah they supported it.
If you want to have a conversation about real restrictions of freedom of speech, then let’s get bloody well started. Remember when an Australian Senator had been barred from entering Nauru to report on our own detention centres. Our laws literally enable us to chuck people in jail if they speak out about the sexual abuse of children in detention. That sounds distinctly more like George Orwell’s 1984 than logical laws protecting our citizens against racial discrimination.
Why can't we get angry that we can't racially abuse people in the streets without consequence?
This campaign to change 18C isn’t really about the universal right to a freedom of speech. It has nothing to do with it. It’s about privileged people whinging that they are being silenced in society. This isn’t the case. For the first time, certain privileged people are being held to account by the people who are affected by their words. They complain about their own freedom of speech being limited by others calling them out for racism or homophobia, but this is exactly the freedom of speech we all deserve.
These laws are simply being used as ammunition in a fight against “political correctness”. It’s not a coincidence that these laws have been around for over 20 years and it’s only now that people are outraged by them.
Freedom of speech is important. But literally all these laws do is stop people spewing racial abuse on the streets and stop media commentators from laying into people of other races without backing up their accusations with facts. Why the hell would you want to defend that? This isn’t a slippery slope. It’s a well-written law that is serving its purpose. If you want to have a civil discussion about race or criticise someone’s culture with facts, then go ahead – the law will protect you.