The Government is attempting to introduce censorship laws. It doesn’t just want to chip away at your right to speak, it wants to cancel all dissenting voices. The plan is to install a 1984-style ‘Ministry of Truth’ that censors anyone who opposes or questions the establishment narrative. It sounds like hyperbole, but the model is no longer America, it’s communist China or North Korea. In my opinion it’s the greatest threat that faces our nation.
If passed, this bill would allow the issuing of huge fines to social media companies if they fail to remove misinformation or disinformation from their platforms. Who decides what is misinformation or disinformation?
The Government and the faceless people behind the scenes who control the narrative. These are the people who told you that Covid-19 was deadly when it was mild for almost 100 percent of healthy people. These are the people who told you that their injections would stop you from catching and spreading Covid, which it didn’t.
This legislation should immediately raise the suspicion of all Australians. If we learned anything during the Covid pandemic, it was the importance of allowing divergent views to be expressed in the public square. Many opinions that were expressed, and were deemed ‘misinformation’ early in the pandemic, were later found to be true. In contrast, much of the information given out by Government departments during the crisis was later found to be untrue. At the United Australia Party, we have always championed free speech and insisted that people have the right to discern for themselves fact from fiction and truth from untruth.
When the government proposes to act as a filter on what people can and cannot say, the government quickly becomes a filter on what people can and cannot think. This is a massive overreach of governmental authority, and the United Australia Party will strongly oppose it. Last week, I immediately wrote to Minister Michelle Rowland to express my disgust at this attack on freedom of speech.
One of the most disturbing elements of this bill is the definition of ‘harm’, a definition that many of you have will have breached more than once in your life and will likely breach every day for the rest of your lives. That is not because you intend to harm others, but simply because you are unafraid to challenge authority and call out lies.
Harm in this bill is defined as any of the following:
(a) hatred against a group in Australian society on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, or physical or mental disability;(Goodbye criticism of men competing in women’s sports!)
(b) disruption of public order or society in Australia; (Goodbye protests!)
(c) harm to the integrity of Australian democratic processes or Commonwealth, State, Territory or local government institutions; (Thou shalt not question thy government!)
(d) harm to the health of Australians; (Forget peer-reviewed studies unless they are produced by Big Pharma!)
(e) harm to the Australian environment; (The climate change religion is protected!)
(f) economic or financial harm to Australians, the Australian economy, or a sector of the Australian economy. (Socialism, here we come!)
This is Orwellian.
It is not the role of the government to tell people what they can and cannot say. It is not the role of the government to fact-check citizens’ opinions. It is not the role of government to deem certain views permissible and other views, no matter how silly or inaccurate, off limits.
If this bill passes, you can kiss goodbye to debate, and you can kiss goodbye to religious freedom. The definition of harm in our post-Christian society will see the censorship of the Bible and other holy books. Christians. Muslims, Hindus, and all people of faith need to stand up and fight this bill. It will affect us all.
Predictably, this bill lists a range of content that is excluded for misinformation purposes. Just who is exempt from censorship? Our schools, our universities, mainstream media, and our federal, state, and local governments.
Are you surprised? Because I am not.
What this bill envisages is a free pass for everyone who diligently followed the government’s advice during the pandemic. As for the rest of us? If you choose to think freely, you will be censored.
Social media is the modern-day town square. This bill seeks to silence discussion in the town square, limiting you to government-approved speech.
I will campaign against it with all my might. I urge Opposition leader Peter Dutton, the Liberal and National parties, and all cross-benchers to step up and join me in the fight for free speech. Now is not the time to play politics; we must boldly defend the rights of the Australian people. Our job is preserving liberty, not aiding its destruction.
If the government truly cared about misinformation and disinformation, then the best disinfectant is free and open speech, not more censorship.
You, at home, can play a big role in killing this bill. You can make a submission on it and provide your feedback. Your submission doesn’t need to be long or complicated, just your personal or professional views.
It is important that this Labor government realises how much we value freedom of speech. Please take the time to fight for freedom. Do it for yourself, for your children, for your grandchildren, and for democracy as we know it.
Remember, courage is contagious. If you want real measurable change, it must come from you. Take an interest in the political process, and take an interest in who governs you. God bless you, and God bless our nation.
Ralph Babet is Victoria’s first United Australia Party Senator in the Australian Senate. If you would like further information about how to protest against this bill, please click here.