Australia Is Heading Down A Perilous Path

One of the things that I have noticed in my 43 years in Australia is that there is an ever-present paternalism. Government heads and their bureaucratic assets constantly tell us what’s good for us. In their mind, Australians are so stupid and susceptible to persuasion by others that they cannot discern fact from fiction or right from wrong.

So it should come as no surprise that the federal government is proposing a bill to stamp out disinformation or misinformation.

This is the problem when you don’t have an American-style First Amendment which, assures freedom of speech. Notice what they state on their website about misinformation.

“Misinformation explained

Misinformation can include:

• made-up news articles

• doctored images and videos

• false information shared on social media

• scam advertisements.

Misinformation can pose a risk to the health and safety of individuals, as well as society more generally. We have seen this with misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and 5G technology.”

This has been in place already, and probably many Australians are not aware of this. Still, now the Australian government is going a step further––a big step further.

Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation)Bill 2023

This bill, if it passes, means that those found to be disseminating misinformation online can be fined millions of dollars.

There is a link on the ACMA's site for people to report what they deem to be misinformation. You can see where this is going. Who defines misinformation? What about the government spreading misinformation? Are they exempt?

The obvious target is people who have been countering the Covid narrative that the vaccines are safe and effective. On both counts, we know what the government tells us is untrue. There is plenty of research and data to back this up. Will the government ignore data because it counters the official line, and you cannot challenge the dogma? If that is the case, what we have in Australia is a Soviet-style government where you cannot challenge the state. This is the Orwellian nightmare people have been fearing.

For example, Dr Paul Marik and Dr Pierre Kory have strongly advocated using Ivermectin in treating Covid, and they back it up with their research.

As stated on the FLCCC website, "Dr Marik became the first to scientifically codify the strong data signal for the efficacy of ivermectin to prevent and treat every phase of COVID-19 disease". Dr Marik himself stated, "People are dying needlessly."

Dr Marik is an eminent researcher with multiple citations over many years. Is he spreading misinformation? So who knows more, a government bureaucrat who has never seen a patient or a researcher on the ground who is dealing with real, live human beings?

You see, it's all the same whether it's the government denying people the ability to seek alternative treatment and ends up killing people as a result, or a quack doctor who kills people. Except that denying a viable treatment or injecting the masses with something shown to be unsafe slips into the category of mass casualties.

There are already laws on the books for someone promoting quackery that causes harm to people. If someone online promotes injecting people with arsenic, then they should be prosecuted. However, the laws on disinformation are targeting something else.

Within any discipline, there are a variety of opinions. The government proposes that you are not allowed to have an opinion if it differs from ours. Here again, if someone posts something online that they refuse to take a promoted product because of x, y or z, the government can prosecute that person because they are harming the community––in their perverted thinking. The Covid vaccine is a prime example. Why should they care if I'm not vaccinated if they believe it prevents transmission? Those who are can't transmit it, correct?

The other area I see this being abused is if you make statements regarding "climate change". For instance, the data shows that severe storms have decreased over the past 100 years, and one can express the opinion that there is no crisis. Is that person harming anyone by expressing that opinion?

Unfortunately, Australia is going down a dangerous path. How often have people been accused of spreading conspiracy theories, only to find that the theory was, in fact, a conspiracy? We have entered a world where fiction becomes truth, and truth becomes fiction. Australians must do everything they can to stop this bill. Our basic freedom of expression is at stake.

Submissions can be made on this link.