The following applies to our many Australian readers. If you’re not Australian, you’re welcome to read, and apologies for the indulgence.
Australia goes to the polls this Saturday for its 43rd election since Federation in 1901, and never previously have the democratic freedoms we enjoy been more under attack than they are at the moment.
If you’ve been watching the campaign, you’d know that the two main parties haven’t exactly been inspiring. On one hand we have a Government that spends money like there’s no tomorrow, burns down houses with faulty installation, and wants to censor the internet while spying on everything you do online.
The alternative Government offers a bizarre and second rate broadband policy, is obsessed with boats, and lurches to the right on social policy.
I’m not going to tell you who you should vote for in the House of Representatives, because there’s really not much difference between the two main parties on many policies. Take your pick, roll the dice, or maybe even do a Mark Latham.
However your Senate vote counts. You can vote for a free internet in Australia this Saturday.
A first preference vote for the Australian Labor Party in the Senate is a vote for a censored internet, big brother style internet monitoring, no adult ratings on games, and censored or limited choice in mobile phone applications.
If you prefer the Labor Party on other issues, you can vote for them in the House of Representatives then vote for a minor party in the Senate: it’s the best way to send a message to Labor that you support a free internet.
There are any number of minor parties who do not support these policies.
The Greens, the Liberal Democratic Party, and the Australian Sex Party are three parties taking a stand against the totalitarian internet policies proposed by the Australian Government.
If you live in Victoria, you can also send another message to the man who claims that those who stand for free speech in this country support child porn, or as he’s more lately claimed, golden showers, by voting Stephen Conroy last in the Senate.
I’d encourage you to put Conroy last, even if you are a strong Labor supporter. The disgusting denigration of those against him by Stephen Conroy has no place in modern Australian politics, and this guy needs to be sent a direct and personal message in the same way he personally targets those against internet censorship.
On Saturday, stand up for free speech by making your vote count by voting for a free internet.
The future of the internet in this country relies on you doing so.
Duncan Riley Editor + Publisher The Inquisitr
