Posts tagged Free speech
Commonwealth Campaign Finance Reform

“Restrictions on political expenditure are plainly restrictions on freedom of speech. However, restrictions on electoral expenditure are akin to the rules of debate in a meeting which restrict the length of speeches and provide for rights of reply. This feature of expenditure caps makes them more acceptable than donation bans or caps.”

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Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024

We begin by acknowledging that a physical assault or threat of such in relation to an individual does not give rise to any issue of freedom of speech, as we will come back to in relation to proposed section 80.2 BB. Threats are not in any proper sense part of the communication of information or opinion which is protected by freedom of speech.

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Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024

Notwithstanding our submission that doxing offences in the form contained in the Bill should not be introduced, we submit that; if it were to be introduced, doxxing should be an offence only to the extent it can be equated to harassment or stalking as the unacceptable behavior and consequences are similar.

 

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Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill

The government's role as an intellectual arbiter of the truth in social and political debate must be constricted, if not completely denied.  This is based on a deep skepticism about the good faith of those controlling the government.  That skepticism flows from the fact that decisions about what is true or false, when made by those in power, are bound up with political perspectives of those in power. In that regard the government is not impartial when it comes to contested disputes about the facts underlying political life.  This is not meant to be some conspiracy theory.  It derives from the fact that in the words of Lord Acton “All power tends to corrupt.” 

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Criminal Code (Serious Vilification and Hate Crimes) Amendment Bill 2023

We remain of the view that you cannot end racism and other pernicious ideas by censorship and policing. What needs to be done is to focus on addressing the root causes of why some people are attracted to such ideologies in the first place, including social isolation, growing economic insecurity and mistrust in government and the media.

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Local Government Electoral Expenditure Caps Bill 2022

Restrictions on electoral expenditure are akin to the rules of debate in a meeting which restricts the length of speeches and provide for rights of reply. In the context of political speech, the restrictions are essential to fairness, in that the arms race between various political players is continuously increasing the cost of elections, which results in an increasing number of people being excluded from the political process. Capping expenditure would also help to create closer financial equality between candidates at elections

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