Enough said!

One of the great things about living in Australia is that within reason you can say pretty much what you want without fear of recrimination. It is a 'free country'.

Sedition laws have been in place for many years (Section 80 of the Criminal Code) but from what I understand they were aimed at statements that "bring the Sovereign into hatred", "excite disaffection against the government" or make statements "with the intention of creating public disorder".

I must confess I don't know all the facts (who does?) but I'm concerned that the door of free speech may have closed a little with the introduction of the government's new sedition provisions.

I was not a 'Fraser fan' when he was Prime Minister, but I have considerably more respect for him now. The following statement by Malcolm Fraser is very sobering. "... the laws were reversing "centuries of advances" in human rights and protection of individual liberties."

Related links:
Australian government insists on sedition clauses in new terrorism legislation
Australian Senate passes anti-terror laws
Part of seminar convened by Aust Centre for Independent Journalism by Ian Barker QC - 148kb pdf
Wikipedia entry for 'Australian sedition law'