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Australian Minister talks Internet Censorship as Victoria burns

He needs to be sacked, but not for that. He's the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy not the Minister for Bushfire prevention. (And that's not to take anything at all away from the tragedy that's happening in Victoria)

The most surprising thing about this is that it's Conroy's home state that is up in flames!

can we call him Nero now?

He should be sacked… how dare he take political advantage of a tragedy

I'm not going to take anything away from the hurt and pain that Victorian's are feeling right now, but I don't think this is anything more than an unfortunate coincidence.

I personally don't think the filter is a good idea. But apart from the 'content filtering' mention in the fourth last paragraph of the above press release, this release is NOTHING about the filter.

It's about the education of children over the dangers on the Internet and Australia is participating this year like they did last year in what is a global initiative. We need MORE of this education, not less.

The minister in this circumstance is being vilified for what is effectively two words. Think of the alternatives:
1) The Internet Safety Day is cancelled or postponed. What is that going to do? Waste all of the money and work that went into organising everything. Can we afford to waste money on what is a good thing? Yes, it can be postponed but participating in a global initiative on the same day has more effect than going out on our own. Twestival is still running in all cities, including Melbourne. Should this event be cancelled also?
2) The minister could have not included 'content filtering' in the release. Everything that I have read about any aspect of the minister's plan includes a mention of those five aspects. It could also be read into that the minister has dropped the filtering proposal which would be celebrated inaccurately.

If the bushfires didn't happen, perhaps it wouldn't have been read this way, and would be celebrated as a good event. But it seems as though since we're all on edge and emotional, the coherent thought process goes missing.

What a load of crap Duncan.

What a disgusting prat.

This just illustrates the one mindedness approach of Senator Conroy and his closed-door clandestine advisory board. Look at any other example of members of the advisory board other than law enforcement, and find any rational, neutral or objective advisors. There are none. These people live, eat, breathe and dream about safety proofing the internet, at all costs. The road to ruin is definitely paved with good intent, and whilst I do not doubt the sincerity involved and believe that these individuals truly feel they are 'saving children' and helping make the world a better place, the reality of it is; Australian's think they're knobs.

errr, what? He's talking about Stephen Conroy, not Steve Fielding. Who most certainly isn't a minister…

Political education FAIL.

This is know in the trade as “a good day to bury bad news”:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Moore

Sack his Ass

oh my god, you mean that he was doing his job, while an incedent, totally unrelated to his department was going on? stop the presses! Sure, he may not have a clue how to do his job properly, but there's another 10 million + aussies out there getting in a full days work while the fires in Victoria rage on, why should Conroy be an exception? even if a full days work for him is playing solitaire for 7 hours and writing some propoganda peice with the remaining hour.

Yes what is happening in Victoria is a tragedy but other things in the nation/world are still continuing on!

Conroy must be stood down. The majority of the Australian public do not wish to have this person who so poorly represents our views in control of such an important portfolio.

He is the digital communication minister, would expect him to digitally communicate about digital communication on a day marked for safer digital communication.

You sir, are the joke here., wanted your sensational headline without thinking for two seconds.
He is no Nero with a fiddle. He is just an ordinary poli doing what poli's do, his job, he prob wrote that memo weeks ago… and far better than some poser poli looking for fire victimns and sound bites for the news.

This is nothing more than an attempt to publicly release information on the hush hush. Any news like that is going to get buried with the current crises (down here we're burning, up there they're drowning and everywhere else is on alert).

This censorship idea has been sinking ship from the outset and I honestly believe they're sabotaging it themselves so they can write off the idea as not doable yet (without getting any of the minor parties that support the idea offside) and this appears to be yet another deliberate nail in the coffin.

And you have just seen the real side of politics in this country, I am so happy people in the real world, see what type of dick heads run this country, We even have idiot politicians, offering there names on public appeals, but then again it is a country of SHEEPLE.

Well, Conroy/Rudd, remember that Mandatory Internet Censorship has NO friends!
I would assume that Conroy and Rudd are Anti abortion – being God fearing Christians, and all (nothing wrong with that from my POV)…
There is now an Anti abortion site that is on the Mandatory Internet Censorship List.
That means that NO ONE in Australia can (technically) access that site without implementing circumvention techniques in order to bypass the Mandatory Internet Censorship.
I'll bet that site being placed on the Mandatory Internet Censorship list was an unintended consequence – and totally at the angst of Conroy and Rudd, once they find out! Why angst? Because there is NO avenue for appeal!; NO recourse to have a censored item removed from the list!
As I said, Censorship has no friends!
BTW – that site was comprised of mainly medical facts – no ranting, no raving … just pure, cold, facts about abortion.

i agree with Stormwarden – it is nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence that these events are occuring at the same time. Ministers aren't responsible for acts of god or acts of arsonists.

afterall, if we have time for reactionary twittering amidst this tradgedy does he not have time to do his job? is the rest of australia staying home today or are they getting up, putting on their clothes and going out to work? let me just think…

this is a tradgedy, no one is saying it is anything but that, which makes condemming a man for doing his job all the more petty – surely this is the very time we should be seeing the bigger picture?

reactionary twittering while the country is in disaster… seems a little indecent really. much more so than a man doing his job, like thousands of other people in the country today. but then, no one is really listening to you are they.

He is not just an Australian minister he is a Victorian Senator. He is more concerned with his religious consciousness than the law or people or anything but his own agenda, he tried to silence and bully critics of his policy, he has no heart for good governance, democracy, freedom of the free or free speech if he did he would have dropped everything and considered Victoria and maybe what he could do as a Senator to help.

Conroy is off with the pixies, Rudd is off to see the Pope, Sack Conroy and then tarr and feather him methaphorically of course no inciting violence, but Conroy is attacking the Australian democracy with the violence of a criminal we should be able to defend our democracy from a criminal like Conroy.
Conroy and Rudd are making Australia a laughing stock internationally, a third rate democracy, the mongrel has no right to outlaw a free press in Australia.

http://www.hereticpress.com/Dogstar/Religion/Vi…