Labor wants to extend 18C to include sexual orientation
The Labor Party has demonstrated its commitment to destroying free speech in Australia yet again by planning to extend 18C to an even broader level by including sexual orientation into the clause. According to a video obtained by The Australian, this widening of the anti-free speech law will also include speech relating to disabilities and age. This would mean same-sex marriage advocates would be able to take legal action if they’re offended, insulted or humiliated by those supporting traditional marriage.
If there’s one piece of evidence that shows the slippery slope is real, this is it. Having an 18C clause in the first place in order to prevent non-white Australians and migrants from being triggered by other people’s opinions has now resulted in an even more culturally Marxist quasi-Communist proposal from Labor. These were the consequences foretold by right-wing politicians and commentators of days old, who predicted that such laws would allow the left to gradually increase their control over people. And now this is in the works.
LGBT people and other Tumblr-generated sexual minorities would be empowered to take action against anyone who criticises their lifestyle or their so-called “identity” (including the author of this article). It was only last week that Peter Dutton was criticised by the left for supposedly infringing upon people’s right to free speech because he was brave enough to tell large companies, who themselves benefit from a Liberal government thanks to its capitalist free market policies, to avoid interfering in political affairs and instead focus on their operations. His comments were not an infringement on free speech as he proposed no laws to prevent companies speaking on this issue, yet it’s this very left that is trying to infringe on people’s free speech right now.
This is not the first time in recent history where Labor has attempted to curb free speech and fuse together racial discrimination laws with other similar laws. Julia Gillard, during her skedaddle through Office, introduced the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill of 2012, which was intended to consolidate five anti-discrimination acts into one legislation. Despite being an election promise, it was thankfully scrapped the next year. They also proposed to regulate the free press though the creation of the News Media Council which would regulate websites such as The Unshackled and allow people to complain to the government if they were triggered by an article they disagreed with. Yet clearly that wasn’t the end of Labor’s anti-free speech shenanigans.
The new proposal may also result in the National Disability Insurance Scheme escaping any debate or discussion, as ministers, MPs, and other associated individuals may not be inclined to comment on an issue that could put their careers and livelihoods at risk. This will effectively convert this country from a democracy characterised by Parliament constructively discussing and debating various policies, with additional commentary by various media outlets, into a left-wing dictatorship where “offensive” and “insulting” language is prohibited.
What’s the point of having a multi-party democratic system of government if the Parliament is unable to criticise and debate various topics for the fear of offending a particular group? If this situation proves one thing, it is that the slippery slope is indeed a real phenomenon. One act will lead to another, and we will end up with Orwellian laws that prevent any speech that insults or offends minorities, and this will lend its way to more totalitarian thought control. First it was race, and now its sexual orientation, who’s to say what comes next? If Labor does win the next election and plans to put this proposal into action, let us hope our system of checks and balances will never allow it to escape the walls of Parliament House and strangle us with its regressive powers and bind us in its shackles.