Well at last Senator Conroy has proved Clive Hamilton right. I think the book followed this 2004 Australia Institute paper.
From the foreword by Robert Manne
For over a decade, the Howard government has found ways to silence its critics, one by one. Like the proverbial frog in boiling water, Australians have become accustomed to repeated attacks on respected individuals and organisations. For a government which claims to support freedom of speech and freedom of choice, only certain kinds of speech and choices appear to be acceptable.
Silencing Dissent uncovers the tactics used by John Howard and his colleagues to undermine dissenting and independent opinion. Bullying, intimidation, public denigration, threats of withdrawal of funding, personal harassment, increased government red tape and manipulation of the rules are all tools of trade for a government that wants to keep a lid on public debate. The victims are charities, academics, researchers, journalists, judges, public sector organisations, even parliament itself.
Deeply disturbing, Silencing Dissent raises serious questions about the state of democracy in Australia.
I’ve carefully checked the internet for news and blog sites to see if Clive Hamilton, Sarah Maddison and Robert Manne have come out criticising Senator Conroy’s new legislation. To no avail. They must be fair weather defenders of free speech.
An extract from page 3:
Update: Robert Manne didn’t write the quote attributed to him above.
First!
Oh, and what did you expect?
DMS
13 Mar 13 at 5:17 pm
A good point. Other such self-appointed champions of human rights such as Burnside and Brennan have similarly been silent through all this, as far as I know, although to give him some credit, David Marr has expressed some concerns (although not nearly as vociferously as when JH was PM).
No doubt, should the federal Government change, all these rights heroes will suddenly, miraculously find their voices again, and peddle their usual paranoid, hate-filled vilification of the largely imaginary infringements of rights by conservative government. Confected outrage will return as the posture du jour.
They set themselves up as human rights crusaders, but their very selective silences show them to be little other than sell-outs to the left.
ACTOldFart
13 Mar 13 at 5:19 pm
Nothing silences dissent like a 10 foot fall from a gallows assembled in the town square.
Revenge is going to be sweet.
Infidel Tiger
13 Mar 13 at 5:30 pm
I don’t think you guys get it.
The things that JH and co. were trying to stifle was nothing more than The Truth. Real truth’s, like AGW, the sanctity of Multiculturalism, the real evil of Tony Abbot and George Pell.
About these truths the only discussion possible is the noble work of ‘consciousness-raising’. Anything else is, self-evidently, nothing more than divisive and brutal attempts to criminally Offend the good, and dog-whistle the bestial instincts of the bad.
Conroy is not ‘censoring debate’ he is clearing the public space of brutes trying to impede the good and important work of raising the consciousness of the ignorant to a higher plane.
Robert Blair
13 Mar 13 at 5:48 pm
Ha! Happy Hamilton talks about personal attacks? This was the gleaming cue ball who wrote a hit piece exposing people he disagreed with. What an appalling individual. The absolute pits.
JC
13 Mar 13 at 6:51 pm
I think this raises serious questions about the role of Tony Abbott.
Tony Abbott has been silencing dissent for years by prowling safe Labor seats with a roll of gaffer tape.
In 1976 he personally attacked and gagged a helpless Gough Whitlam in his office in Parliament House when he was leader of the Opposition.
In 1998 he shot and killed Pauline Hanson because she had video footage of this incident.
Philippa Martyr
13 Mar 13 at 7:01 pm
Graeme’s email to Happy was wonderful
Tal
13 Mar 13 at 7:06 pm
free speech for me but not for thee
Jim Rose
13 Mar 13 at 7:08 pm
Oh Bliss.
When I am appointed Media Inquisitor General by Abbott usinf Conroy’s law, Manne will skinned to make my chair. The rest will be rendered to make the soap for the ensuite to my office.
WhaleHunt Fun
13 Mar 13 at 7:27 pm
What is it now? About 186 days till the Tannery needs to have the boilers running?
WhaleHunt Fun
13 Mar 13 at 7:29 pm
184 days 4 hours 26 minutes.
Gab
13 Mar 13 at 7:33 pm
I see their ABC got their script right from Benito. The news tonight was all about da evil Murdoch press at war with the government and going OTT.
Abbott must privatise it and SBS. Reform is not possible and they will only revert to form when the Libs lose office.
Johno
13 Mar 13 at 10:48 pm
re: the ABC and SBS, dunno if anyone else notice, but part of Conroy’s media package was a limit on the number of commercial broadcasters (no more), but the addition of one more “community broadcaster”.
The ABC and SBS charters are also being expanded into digital and online media.
duncanm
13 Mar 13 at 10:55 pm
That’s because there isn’t enough “diversity”. Pfft.
Gab
13 Mar 13 at 11:06 pm
Henry Ergas was on fire in his article in the Oz today, I particularly liked this quote:
Good point, once the commissar is in place they can go to work erradicating all believers of the great AGW cult which are perverting science and our right to free speech.
Token
14 Mar 13 at 8:15 am
Thank you Samuel for writing this. People need to be reminded of these hypocrites! I hope the internet helps in exposing these kind of partisan hacks and that we don’t get another lot of ‘former’ communists in public life who get to just deny what they ever said or supported. And the re-invention of history that was so common in the later half of the 20th cent..
Luke
14 Mar 13 at 10:50 am
I did not write the words attributed to me in this post.
Robert Manne
15 Mar 13 at 6:48 pm
Samuel J in Cut & Paste here.
Samuel J
15 Mar 13 at 8:21 pm