Category: Freedom of Speech

Freedom of speech

Pirate Party Australia Defends Wikileaks

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The Obama Administration is calling for its allies, including our own government, to investigate and charge Australian Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for leaking the Afghan War Diaries.[1] Pirate Party Australia calls for the Federal government to reject this attempt to silence one of the greatest defenders of freedom and democracy this country has produced.

Pirate Party activist Simon Frew said “It is unfortunate that a nation such as the United States, with such a pretense for defending freedom has fallen so far as to be calling for a global man-hunt of Mr Assange for leaking information about the conduct of the war in Afghanistan. The leak shows a systematic attempt to cover up every bad turn in the war and to keep the citizens of the countries involved in the dark about what is happening.”

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Filter Delayed, Not Dead

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“The move to postpone mandatory Internet censorship legislation by the Labor government is testament to the unpopularity of the legislation.[1] However it in no way represents a victory for the Open Internet campaign with Senator Conroy’s spokeperson maintaining that the government remains steadfast in their goal to push through legislation that will create a state sponsored Internet censorship infrastructure” said Party Secretary, Rodney Serkowski.

He continued “This delay is a cynical move to minimise the effect that this terrible, misguided and ill-conceived policy will have in the polls. We plan to continue to raise awareness, and remind voters of the intent of the Labor government to pursue this policy. Politicians must understand that attempting to implement a censorship infrastructure of the nature proposed in a liberal democracy is electoral poison.”

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Attorney-General Michael Atkinson’s Backflip No Consolation

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Pirate Party Australia wishes to express its dismay at the recent amendments of the Electoral Act and disgust at Attorney-General Michael Atkinson’s apparent contempt for the South Australian public.

The South Australian Attorney-General commented with respect to new amendments requiring “anyone making an online comment about next month’s state election to publish their real name and postcode.”

Mr Atkinson said “There is no impinging on freedom of speech, people are free to say what they wish as themselves, not as somebody else.”

Matt Redmond, South Australian Pirate Party spokesperson stated “Every citizen in a democracy has the right to question the government, and in doing so, has the right to protect himself from censure. Even within the narrow scope of this bill, the Government has limited what people will be able to say without fear of retribution. Besides being ludicrously unenforceable, this amendment merely demonstrates that the Government has no interest in representing the people.”

He continued “That Ms Redmond and the Opposition raised no substantial objections to these amendments shows that they are just as out of touch with the internet generation as the incumbent Government.”

Rodney Serkowski, Pirate Party Australia Secretary criticised Attorney-General Atkinsonʼs comments. “Such comments are completely and utterly ignorant. Anonymity is an essential part of political discourse in any democracy, and an essential part of the freedom of speech. Mr. Atkinson does not seem to realise that someone may choose to maintain their anonymity due to fear of harassment, political or economic retribution and even
sometimes, threat to their lives. It is necessary for whistle blowers, those struggling against repressive governments and so forth.”

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Conroy’s Filter, Just The Beginning

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While we, the citizens of Australia, have made it blatantly clear that we neither want nor require the nanny-state of Australia to impinge on our rights further by restricting our access to the internet in the name of “child protection”, Conroy continues to soldier on with his censorship plans regardless of what the majority thinks.

http://www.zdnet.com.au/insight/security/soa/Conroy-s-filter-just-the-beginning/0,139023764,339300141,00.htm

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