BREAKING: Australia’s misinformation bill dead in the water
The government would need a miracle to turn this around
In what looks set to be a win for free speech Down Under, critical support from independent senators for the Australian Government’s controversial misinformation bill has collapsed completely.
The Labor Government needed votes from four out of seven independents to pass the bill, but as of today, every single one of the seven independent senators on the crossbench has declared their opposition to the bill.
Formerly undecided Senator Lidia Thorpe today stated her intention to vote against it, due to concerns that "white-dominated institutions" would regulate what constitutes truth, which would would "further erase, suppress and misrepresent First Nations narratives and activism.”
Senator David Van appears to have been swayed by public and/or peer pressure, changing his stance from for to against the bill. In Parliament today, Senator Van said that “at first glance, the bill seemed to be a reasonable approach to tackle harmful content on platforms,” but that on further examination, “there are such significant defects in the bill that means it should not pass as drafted.”
It looks as though a meeting with American free speech activist Michael Shellenberger, who is in Australia at the moment, also had something to do with Senator Van’s change of heart.
The other five crossbenchers (Senators Pocock, Tyrrell, Payne, Lambie and Rennick) had already declared their opposition to the bill, effectively blocking it from passing provided they vote accordingly. Today’s additional declarations only widen the margin of loss for the government.
Katrina Lane, Chief Operations Officer of community action group the Aligned Council of Australia (ACA), said that the ACA is “absolutely delighted to see Democracy in action.”
“The people have spoken, and senators have listened. Australians say no to censorship.”
The ACA, which represents nearly two million Australians, has run an effective campaign against the misinformation bill this year, and has collected nearly 60,000 signatures on petitions opposing the bill.
The government will now either need to significantly alter the misinformation bill in line with demands from the independent senators, or apply such pressure that the majority of them either change their minds or don’t show up for the vote. Short of a miracle, these scenarios are unlikely.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill next Monday, but it’s possible that the government will withdraw the bill to avoid the loss. It’s also possible that lobbyists are currently working very hard at turning this around.
It’s not over til it’s over, but the chance of this going the government’s way is very slim.
If you are the type take out insurance, a last round of calls and emails to senators is advisable. It would still be good to get a guarantee from the Greens that they will oppose the bill. Even with the support of the Greens, the government can’t pass the bill without support from the crossbench, but opposition from the Greens would send a strong message of rejection.
Also, don’t forget to send messages of support to senators who have stated their opposition to the bill.
Greens senators’ contact information can be found here.
Independent senators contact information can be found here.
All Australian senators can be searched by postcode here.
Resources such as templates for letter-writing, sign-making and social media tiles can be found via the Aligned Council of Australia website.
Someone in need of further convincing? Seven reasons to oppose the bill:
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See below the response I received from Senator Michaelia Cash this morning, to my email addressed to Anthony Albanese and others on which she was included.
(Although it must be remembered the Morrison Government previously supported disinformation/misinformation laws, see this Media Release from March 2022: https://www.paulfletcher.com.au/media-releases/new-disinformation-laws)
Email from Michaelia Cash:
Thank you for your email.
I want to reaffirm that the Liberal Party is strongly opposing Labor’s planned censorship laws.
In my opinion, how dare Mr Albanese attack Australians’ right to free speech. Mr Albanese MUST be stopped before it is too late.
Let me assure you that it was the Labor members in the House, including Mr Albanese, who voted for this bill. The Coalition members did NOT. The Coalition firmly believes that this Bill represents an attack on the free speech of Australians.
Labor’s law is a bad law, and I assure you that under Peter Dutton, the Coalition will not support Labor’s Misinformation Bill. We will not support Labor’s attack on free speech. Free speech is fundamental to our democratic society and the Coalition will always defend it.
We’re now witnessing the Government trying to rush this Bill through the Senate and avoid public scrutiny of their planned new censorship laws.
Many Australians will recall all the times the Prime Minister and his MPs referred to any comments they didn’t like in the Voice referendum debate as ‘misinformation”. If these laws had been in place last year, there is no doubt Labor would have used them in an attempt to stifle debate.
We’ve seen religious leaders, senior lawyers, human rights and civil liberties groups all come out against Labor’s Bill. Thousands of submissions have been made to the Senate inquiry, but not published. So much for Mr Albanese’s promise of transparency.
If you would like to please sign the petition now to tell the Albanese Labor Government to stop their attacks on free speech in Australia.
I can assure you that as a member of the Liberal Party, along with my colleagues, I will NOT be voting for this Bill. It is Labor members who are voting for the Bill.
Thank you for raising this important issue with me.
https://www.binthebill.au/
Kind regards
Michaelia Cash
Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash
SENATOR FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Shadow Attorney-General
Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Brilliant news, made my day.
And made all those calls to senators' offices well worth it - thanks to everyone who did likewise.