Unless I am mistaken, it seems that neither staff nor students of the University of New England have protested publicly in the mainstream press about the federal government’s intention to curtail freedom of speech. The government is doing this by:
1) intending to dissolve the Australian Press Council, a national, voluntary body relying on the integrity of its members to maintain ethical standards. Not good enough for an ‘inquiry’ to be set up by Gillard, Brown and Senator Conroy! They want to penalise the Press (presumably with heavy fines and/or jail sentences) every time the Press publishes items not to the government’s liking, an action described by The Australian newspaper as creating ‘an ominous momentum against press liberty’ (29 September, p.13);
2) avoiding commentary on the recent Federal Court judgment against columnist Andrew Bolt — that the judgment ‘asserted the court’s role in determining what is permissible in political or cultural debate’ (The Australian, 29 September, p.13).
Those events show that, what we regarded as an inherent right of Australian society — to speak and write freely — may be in danger of disappearing from our lives. Let UNE stand up and oppose these attempts to deprive us of our political and cultural heritage.
Dr Paul Fidlon,
Armidale
