Sedition Laws

The Aussies are leading the way in reviving anti-sedition laws -- this is absolutely vital, as it represents a cultural self-confidence that is necessary to survive, which has gone missing in too many places in the West:

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia's conservative government has refused to drop strict sedition provisions from a raft of changes to counter-terrorism laws, despite fears from media groups that they will curb freedom of speech.

And the media is baffled that it was unable to stop it!

The laws upgrade the little-used offence of sedition so it attracts a seven-year jail term for threatening the "peace, order and good government of the commonwealth".

Media organisations and civil libertarians have called for the revived sedition laws to be dropped, arguing they are unnecessary as there has been no prosecution under the existing sedition provisions since 1960.

Well it's about time then, isn't it?

Ruddock said the laws would not limit media and political comment as they were drafted to specifically target people who advocated violence against the government.

"It's highly unlikely unless people are urging the use of force or violence to overthrow our democratic institutions or against one group of people involving another group of people, or our troops abroad," he told Sky News.

The media also doesn't like that it will be punished for giving up wartime secrets:

The Australian Press Council has warned that under the laws, journalists who report that a suspected terrorist has been detained by police could be jailed for five years.

The council said police would also have the power to detain journalists if this was deemed necessary to "preserve" evidence relating to a terrorist attack, and they would have free licence to enter newsrooms and seize journalists' notes.

The media need to stop being part of the problem.

Where the Aussies lead, we should follow.