Dominic Knight of The Chaser writes in the Radar section of the SMH:
Join our sedition-a-thon!
November 08, 2005Want to bag out the Queen? Make fun of the Senate? Or simply advocate a bloody socialist revolution? Well, you’d better get your seditious speech in quickly, because it’s about to get banned. And to that end, we’re holding a sedition-a-thon right here on the Radar blog. So while you still can, why not get that negative comment about the Governor-General or the ADF off your chest right here on our webpage?
Until the law’s changed, of course, at which point we’ll delete all the posts immediately and send your personal details to ASIO.
We’re particularly looking for seditious statements that will, as the proposed new section 30A, part 3 of the Crimes Act defines it:
a) bring the Sovereign into hatred and contempt
b) urge disaffection against the following:
(i) the Constitution
(ii) the Government of the Commonwealth
(iii) either house of Parliament
c) (is actually a bit more reasonable – involving advocating unlawful behaviour – so let’s skip it)
d) to promote feelings of ill-will or hostility between different groups so as to threaten the peace order and good Government of the Commonwealth.Part (d) is a bit unclear, so let’s just say that it would outlaw the fun of starting an argument between different groups via statements like "Fords suck, Holdens rule," or "Vespas are for wankers."
Knight points out in his piece that the sedition laws as they are written already criminalise the sort of thing you will regularly read on mgk. I foment disaffection with the Howard government in just about every post.
It’s your turn. Gentle readers of mgk are invited to jump into the comments and sedit!
Queen ugly? Parliament a largely self-serving joke? Constitution lacking in civil rights protections? Love Fords, hate Holdens? Say so!
With any luck, we’ll be having ASIO over for spag bol and a weighty political discussion pretty soon. If I disappear for about 14 days and never explain it, at least you’ll know what happened.
-weez
9 Comments so far
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Jeannette HoWARd is the meaner one and she actually runs the country. I was on a plane with them and she is naastyyyyyyy!
Comment by pru 11.09.05 @ 7:24 pmNassssssssstyy? What’s the nasssssty part? Doesn’t wash her hands after going to the loo? Turns her panties inside out for another day’s wear? What?
Gimme the dirt, baby!
But then again… some people find that sort of thing a turn on, which is not eggzackly disaffection…
Comment by weezil 11.09.05 @ 8:14 pmSedition-a-thon is fine, but the first thing I read on those boards (from a corporate editorial perspective, which is my 9-to-5 frame of mind) was “defamation-a-thon”!
Then again, sometimes it’s hard to draw a line between insults and serious attempts to bring somebody’s character into disrepute.
Comment by Flashman 11.09.05 @ 9:49 pmI don’t have anything bad to say about John Howard.
Well, there is the fact that he’s still breathing.
Comment by JahTeh 11.10.05 @ 6:25 pmJohn Howard breathing doesn’t bother me.
On the other hand, John Howard breathing down my neck is quite another kettle of squid.
If these laws can incarcerate even one innocent without rights of appeal and redress, they’re bad laws. We need bad laws even less than we need terrorists. We stand a much better chance of stopping bad laws than we ever will of stopping terrorists, that is if we continue following the neo-con oil empire builders.
Comment by weezil 11.10.05 @ 8:17 pmI’d be quite happy for the Hanoverian Horse Cripplers (as my English teacher used to refer to them) to be finally consigned to the dustbin of history where they belong.
Can anyone remember that press conference or speech, where Howard was obviously so uncomfortable that he started jerking his shoulders up and down uncontrollably. That really should be dusted off and brought out by someone for the next election campaign if he hasn’t left.
Cheers for the link Weezil, didn’t realise you had added it.
Comment by dj 11.10.05 @ 10:48 pmit would be most disappointing if any material was pulled off the net due to sedition laws. The sedition laws are a challenge… hope I’m not the only one saying PREVENT TERRORISM: DEATH TO THE STATE. The point is to show them they can’t handle the numbers.
Comment by david 11.14.05 @ 5:39 amDeej, Synchronised Idiocy has been in my links list for a while now. I try to read everyone I link at least once a week.
David, The Irony Party is a hilarious read. Indeed… smash the state and terrorists have got nothing to attack. Fancy that. 😀
Comment by weezil 11.18.05 @ 11:50 pmLeave a comment
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