Hello Russell Broadbent here member for Monash. My electorate covers the areas from Longwarry to Latrobe Valley, Mt Baw Baw to Wilson’s Prom and Phillip Island.
Today, I want to talk about Trust.
And once again, I am talking about the proposed ‘misinformation and disinformation’ Bill. Make no mistake this Bill is the greatest government sponsored attack on freedom this country -our country - has ever seen.
This legislation gives bureaucrats the power to decide what is truth and what is not.
Trust.
We’ve been trained to trust people like doctors, politicians and the people that bring us the news.
The ABC positioned themselves as the ‘knower of all things’ through their ongoing propaganda series, speaking to a narrative that’s in lock step with what the government wanted them to say. They have lost trust with a swathe of people across this nation.
For those who speak out against the ‘narrative’ this comes at great cost. When Australian journalist Adam Creighton dared to comment on the impacts of lockdown three years ago, as he said…
‘the column triggered a torrent of hate mail that lasted well over a year, and I began to receive persistent and violent threats. I was forced to change my name on social media accounts and my parents became seriously worried for my safety. Some of the attacks were so awful, I considered taking legal action’.
And yet, the words Adam wrote three years ago have been vindicated.
This issue is already on our doorstep. Recent Freedom of Information documents requested by Senator Antic reveal the Australian Government partnered with social media platforms to censor Australians for ‘misinformation and disinformation’ during the pandemic.
The Government’s overreach with this Bill is chilling. We’ve seen how this plays out in other countries, including our neighbours, when New Zealand’s former Prime Minister said ‘We will continue to be your single source of truth. Unless you hear it from us, it is not the truth’.
On Tuesday, Senator Penny Wong said that ‘Freedom of expression and assembly are essential to our democracy, and we support those in Australia who exercise those rights.’ She was referring to democracy sympathisers in Hong Kong!
Governments are such hypocrites. While they quite righty stand for the freedoms of other nations, our own freedoms are at huge risk by their hand. We’re at a turning point where this Bill will bring to horrifying reality, the fiction outlined in George Orwell’s book, 1984.
It should alarm every Australian that the Government and its approved agencies, educational institutions and professional news outlets will be exempt from this new law. So, they get to decide ‘the truth’ and shut down anyone else who might question it.
You have to ask: what is the Labor Government afraid of? It’s own people?
As John F Kennedy said, “a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
I don’t recognise our country anymore. This isn't the Australia I know. What is happening in this country? This doesn't stack up ...it just doesn't make sense.
And that’s Justice As I See It.
