top 100 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 147 points 8 months ago (10 children)

Just because something is illegal, doesn’t make it wrong and just because something is legal, doesn’t make it right. We need more illegal action against those who oppress legally.

  • source
  • hideshow 10 child comments
  • [–] 93 points 8 months ago (9 children)

    Best example: the holocaust was legal, hiding Jews to save their lives was illegal.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 9 child comments
  • [+] -30 points 8 months ago (8 children)

    And yet now the Jews are the oppressors/instigators 🫩

    What a world.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 8 child comments
  • [–] 62 points 8 months ago (7 children)

    Zionists, not Jews, are the problem.

    Even as an atheist I belive the main issue is not your belief, but what you do with it.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
  • [–] 8 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    Props for sensible atheism as compared to "all & any religion is murder" atheism.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] -2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    Zionists, not Jews,

    Zionists are jews.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Incorrect in two ways. There are non Jewist Zionists (see Trump as an example) Even of they were, not all Jews are Zionists.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] -1 points 7 months ago

    see Trump as an example

    I'd call him a christofascist, not a zionist, he doesn't give two fucks about israel or jews unless it has some utility to him, but yeah, there are non-jewish zionists for sure: all those who support israel.

    not all Jews are Zionists.

    duh

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 130 points 8 months ago (29 children)

    Again, why does any country who is not Israel care at all about this? Does Australia have a military base there?

  • source
  • hideshow 29 child comments
  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    We have 100,000 Jewish people in Australia, a significant portion of which consider themselves Zionists. Anti-Zionist slogans are something the Jewish population (wrongly) finds threatening and Labor doesn't have the political space to take the progressive side in every culture war.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [+] -60 points 7 months ago (26 children)

    Exactly, half these people are bored with nothing better to do and should be working.

    You can tell as they often are a collective with no common goal or objective other than 'protest'. And it's causing such division in our society with now a strong anti immigration movement cos people are getting sick of it.

    And in the end everyone loses.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 26 child comments
  • [–] 77 points 7 months ago* (19 children)

    If you can get arrested and jailed for wearing a shirt saying "from the river to the sea", that means your government is suppressing your free speech in service to the genocidal regime of a different country. Even if you don't care about the genocide, the subversion of your democracy and your civil rights by a foreign power is something that any responsible citizen should be fighting against.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 19 child comments
  • [+] -30 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (16 children)

    Again so quick to fire you assume that I disagree with you.

    Something to consider though, we do have free speech in this country and its likely and this case (if challenged) will get thrown out. Update edit: she took a caution.

    But also tell me how wearing a t shirt constructively convinces others to share our point of view? Quite the contrary I imagine others who don't share the same opinion will go 'avoid this person before they shout at me for having a different point of view'

    And do you know a better way to make a movement in this country than if everyone is able to convince someone else to share (or perhaps just lean closer to) a common opinion/belief. So if instead of pissing off alternative points of view, have an open chat, you might change ppls minds. 1 million voices is better than 100,000 voices, and 25 million voices is better than 1 million. And an open chat is not wearing a tshirt.

    But first people need to actually talk and listen to each other instead of shouting and hating each other.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 16 child comments
  • [–] 19 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (11 children)

    You assume that I assume that you disagree with me.

    Well, I am making a counterpoint to your comments about people having nothing better to do and not having a common goal as a collective. This woman achieved something extremely worthwhile, and she probably wasn't working in isolation. She brought attention to an absurd ban on free speech, and by calling the government's bluff on it, helped to reduce the chilling effect on dissent that such restrictions are intended to create. It takes courage, but the most effective way to oppose an unjust law is to break that law, openly and with as much publicity as possible. It draws attention to what is wrong in a way that an open chat simply fails to do. And how open can that chat be anyway? You say you have free speech, but when it gets you arrested with the threat of serious jail time, your freedom of speech is on very thin ice.

    I'm not opposed to verbal persuasion, but it has limitations. Sure you might be able to convince one person of something in a face to face conversation. But that's small fry compared to the influence of internet forums, which have become overrun with bots, paid shills, foreign interference, partisan moderators and hidden algorithms designed to maximize engagement and distort your worldview.

    Sure you can try to change people's minds and/or maintain a balanced worldview in that arena. But any large scale forum for talk tends to create delusion, division and outrage, by design. It keeps dissent in a form that is contained, monitored and manipulated. Keep talking by all means, but people like this woman are doing more to improve the world than mere talk ever could.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 11 child comments
  • [+] -15 points 7 months ago (10 children)

    All I say to this is, if you witness these events you'll see it is often students around uni age, or retirees, both with too much time on thier hands. You wont see the 28 year old mum of two, or the 38 year old fella trying to make it in banking. Cos they are at work, contributing to society. This very event was a student group.

    This girl achieved nothing except getting a permanent stamp on her criminal record, and costing the tax payer more dollars.

    This is why I say a more persuasive approach is better, it's more effective and will change other points of view. Is it more difficult, I agree with you, but no one is gonna witness what happened here and go 'geez I've been wrong all this time and now I'm gonna change my point of view' so continuing it will always lead to a more isolated (but loud) group instead of a broader movement.

    That's why I say instead of going to a protest chat with your social group and respectfully bring up the issue, listen and have a respectful sharing of ideas, you might walk away with 3 or 4 more people leave that have changed thier point of view, and another 2 that have had thiers challenged, and are now closer to yours. That is far more effective than this entire event, and if everyone did this, you'd be amazed at the change that would happen.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 10 child comments
  • [–] 12 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (8 children)

    By "contributing to society" do you mean stuck at work all week, too busy, too exhausted and too tied up by your financial obligations to ever dare to rock the boat in any way? These students and retirees don't have too much time on their hands. They have ENOUGH time on their hands to get out there and make a difference, and I'm grateful for those that do. I would hate to live in a world where no person outside the ruling class is ever free enough to do such a thing, but that is the way things are going. I guess you'll be very happy to get there.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 8 child comments
  • [+] -10 points 7 months ago (7 children)

    No I mean going to work, paying your taxes, using your earnt money to buy things from other people is contributing to society.

    Perhaps you work at a mechanic, and you fix cars for the removalist, who moves a banker, who manages finances for a fabricator, who buys a coffee from the cafe.

    This is contributing to society and is what makes the economy work, without a strong economy australia will be a husk with no influence. So yes going to work is contributing.

    And yes there is a whole discussion on financial obligations and people not owning stuff and being in debt to the hilt, but I'm not sure this is the right page for it.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
  • [–] 8 points 7 months ago* (2 children)

    See the problem I have with this take is that almost everyone I know understands that they have to work in order to maintain a standard of living. Some of them are also conciously aware that this contributes to an overarching societal progression.

    The contribution our politicians should be making is to enact the will of the people they represent, this is where I see the breakdown occuring.

    We have a federal government that is apparently far more beholden to lobbyists and corporate interests, we have state governments who are similar, we have local councils that seemingly represent their own interests.

    Without people willing to put themselves on the line to highlight the failings of our governments and the supporting apparatus then when do we expect them to change? I'm sorry but no amount of contributing to the smooth operation of society is going to fix the problems we currently have, or the ones that are looming in front of us.

    Once we regulate AI, tighten our tax code to make businesses and corporations pay their fair share, inhibit the influence of lobbyists, get serious on finding and punishing corruption then we can talk about if protesters should be doing something more "productive".

    But if you think some older people marching against over reaching anti-public laws has more of a damaging effect on our society than all the problems we face I'm afraid you and I just exist in different worlds. A strong society should never fear its members protesting, we need to stop licking the boot and start standing up to the people wearing it.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Paras 1, 2 and 3 are as if I had written them myself. And on retrospect I could've been clearer in my original post that I see these protests as fruitless. You can protest against your local council in relation to a badly consulted project, or federal about the botched handling of let's say 'housing affordability', heck it doesn't even need to be government it could be your employer outsourcing work overseas. In each instance you are protesting/impacting the party who you disagree with.

    Here we have a group protesting about the actions of a foreign nation, who undertook an action on the other side of the globe. And who are they impacting?, the cafe that had to close thier doors cos there's a protest out the front, or the dress maker that lost a days trading because ppl were avoiding the area.

    At best you can stretch it to they are trying to impact the federal government, but this is my concern here, with what? The government says we support a two party solution, we support no warfare in the region. What's the tangible action you want from them? Cos I don't see that in any messaging.

    And if it's 'this public outcry will ensure both sides lay down thier weapons' your shouting at a third party about something they cannot control, that would be like me protesting that the US shouldnt tariff other countries, or me shouting at the postman because he delivered me a rate hike on my home loan, fruitless.

    And I was just suggesting that the retirees could go back to work and contribute to society again until they are 73 like the rest of us are gonna have to, cos they ruined the housing market in this country whilst they instead retire at 55 on thier defined benefits we need to work until we're 70 to pay for thier pensions

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago*

    These particular protests at this time appear to be sparked by the ban on certain slogans. You can't directly change the policies of Israel by waving signs in Queensland. But if your state government is carrying water for Israel by selectively banning political speech, that is absolutely a local issue and one that needs to be addressed. It's not just an issue of free speech, but also of corrupt politicians serving zionist lobbies. By addressing that local issue, in Australia and elsewhere, we can weaken the grip that zionism has had on large swathes of the global political establishment. The benefits of doing so won't just be felt by Palestinians. The network of corruption, blackmail and bribery that underpins this worldwide system of control is making us all worse off.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 child)

    I'll try not to overlap too much with what shads has said, since they really gave a better explained and more complete answer than I would have.

    What interests me here is the disparity between our points of view. In the spirit of finding understanding and common ground, as you have championed, I'd consider digging a little deeper into that. Of course I can only say how it looks from my perspective. It seems that your point of view is that we should all seek to be cogs in the machine, and any concerns we may have about the nature of the machine should be discussed quietly without ruffling anyone's feathers. The problem I have with that, is that the machine is clearly working to increase corruption and wealth disparity. We are heading for disaster.

    So while there is great social value in work and building a strong economy, it is also extremely important to call out injustice and corruption, and fight for the rights and representation of the people. Otherwise those economic benefits will only expand the financial obesity of a few people, while 99% of us are gradually reduced to serfdom or worse.

    And this, it seems to me, is where you have a blind spot. You're saying that protesting and wearing banned slogans on clothing is a bad thing. We're focusing on a particular act of protest which was clearly successful, as it brought publicity to the absurdity and overreach of this ban on speech, while also combating the chilling effect it was intended to have. But you will not acknowledge that it was successful. You say it only serves to polarize opinion against the protestor. I can only suppose that this reflects your personal reaction to it. You're applying a circular logic that says because you feel negatively about protest, then protest must be a bad thing because it only causes negative feelings.

    But circular logic aside, why else would you feel negatively about this? Is this woman not fighting for your rights? Is she not fighting against corruption and injustice? It seems your principal argument is that you believe it to be ineffective, which rests on your own perception and the aforementioned circular logic.

    I wonder where those self-reinforcing negative feelings come from. I would guess they are the product of conservative ideology, which even if you disagree with it on principle, seems to have left a tendency to view certain groups of people, such as students or protestors, in an overwhelmingly negative light. Is further education, or taking a stand against corruption, really such a bad thing? Where does the reinforcement of that mindset come from? Who does it serve?

    EDIT : having seen your answer to shads it seems that's maybe not how you feel about protest and activism as a whole, so perhaps I've got the wrong impression of your position here. Well, maybe it is or maybe not, I'll just leave this up here anyway

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

    Sorry had trouble posting hence the delay.

    With these types of demonstrations, they are fruitless, they are calling for action with no clear action being called for.

    Was this a protest against censorship? Or against the war? Or pro Palestine? Or was this a 'stick it to the man'? Who are you calling to action and what action are you calling for?

    No one knows which is my point. Instead it costs the taxpayer money to manage, will not change the opinions of anyone and will not achieve any change. Now any of those causes are fine, but aimless protests are useless, and from my perspective frustrating cos we're paying for it (in a tight financial environment these days). Also lets not forget how much Sydney cost the taxpayer.

    Now let's say censorship is the protest here, a broadcast that, discuss that, write to your member on that, wearing a taboo (rightfully or wrongly) shirt and getting arrested will not achieve this. We should instead aim for strong discussions which will naturally start a movement. It's more effective than getting arrested.

    Also thanks for the respectful response, didn't think I'd have to hunt for that (shads too) 😁

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Wearing a shirt doesn’t, but then why should the government care? The answer is they shouldn’t.

    Punchinb nazis used to be cool. Now, when the forner victims of genocide pay that genocide forward, governments defend it, going so far as to prosecute their own for saying “I don’t like it”.

    A normal government reply would be: cool, enjoy your angst. Instead, they spend money and energy on it which is not normal.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] -3 points 7 months ago

    I agree with you they shouldn't care about a tshirt, and if the case was challenged it would likely get thrown out, forcing them to make new laws.

    To be clear, punching anyone is not cool, and it's this kind of hateful thinking that makes wars. "Well it's okays to physically hurt this person cos they think/believe/are different".

    It is this opinion that people on either side of the war effort use to justify thier actions, either it's right to physically harm palestinians cos they are different, or it is right to harm israelis again cos they are different. That's part of the problem not the solution, it will always make the situation of you punch them so they punch back and now your fighting.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Let's have a quiet conversation about bombing your family with white phosphorus. You can start :)

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago

    Mate I'm super sorry this happened to you. No one deserves it and it shouldn't happen period.

    My point however is the name calling as you did in the other comments on my posts and shouting at me, is not the constructive discussion that will start a movement against this. People will just tune out or worse yet actively oppose you. You will ostracise others and cement thier point of view. Which will disrupt the ability to build a movement against these actions.

  • source
  • parent
  • load more comments (1 reply)
  • [–] 10 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    If the citizens of the countries that can exert some pressure on other genocidal countries do nothing who will?

    Your logic is no different to saying people involved in WW2 should have mind their own businesses unless directly attacked by the Nazis.

    You also fail to recognise that, as history teaches, oppression somewhere in the world can quickly be exported to you country.

    And most importantly, unless you are a soulless person with no sense of empathy, we should care about suffering anywhere in the world.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [+] -15 points 7 months ago (4 children)

    Before you get on your high horse that's not what I said.

    I said that a lot of these people are protesting without having a common cause on what they are protesting for. And that it is creating deep fractures in our society.

    But don't let a fact get in the way of your keyboard rage, grab your pitchfork, jump down the throat of anyone who you think is pro Israeli, and make sure to throw in a WW2 or Nazi reference.

    Or perhaps consider that your response is exactly what I was talking about, and it's this kind of rant that is dividing us.

    I encourage a good discussion, sharing of ideas/opinions, perhaps you'll change peoples minds but instead you resort to a "you're wrong and I'm gonna call you names"

    And for the record, I still haven't said I'm pro war cos I'm not. What I've said is I am disappointed in the people in this country with how they have responded to it.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 9 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    Wow, internet person... I never ever called you names or said you are pro-war.

    I'd rather have a not-so-clear-about-the-issue protester than whatever excuse for doing nothing you are proposing.

    Dont let perfect be the enemy of good.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [+] -7 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

    You just tied my 'logic' to the thinking and people of 'WW2'

    That's a form of name calling and not a constructive discussion point there. It was your way of suggesting that one of us is above or below the other.

    And again I did not say 'do nothing' as you suggest. But again don't let a good fact get in the way of your ranting.

    But that's fine, keep contributing to dividing society and in ten years time when half the country hates the other half, just remember you contributed to making it that way.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (1 child)

    Half the country already hates the other half. Wake the fuck up!

    You are suggesting that the half that has good intentions does nothing because they are not organised or clear about the motives.

    Also, please stop fabricating ways to victimise yourself to win an argument.

    Make your case instead.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] -1 points 7 months ago

    What a great argument, the horse has bolted so crack the whip and ensure it never comes back.

    Fabricating ways to victimise myself? I said you resort to name calling, which you did, and I called you out on it.

    If you took the time to read past the first line, you'd see I have made my case, several times now. But your clearly disinterested and your aggressive tone suggests you would rather shout at whoever you think is different, than have a mature discussion.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 70 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    The Coalition were all about free speech when Andrew Bolt published a series of articles explicitly attacking and trying to humiliate named Aboriginal people on the basis of (what he decided was) their race. They tried to weaken the racial discrimination act. Brandis even said Australians have "a right to be bigots" - this was only 12 years ago. The double standard is breathtaking.

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 7 points 8 months ago

    I'm gona jump in to defend Brandis a little here and say his views on these things are usually ideologically consistent. I don't know if he's been asked specifically about this case, but his response (if he decided to respond), would likely be worth listening to. Even if disagreeable.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 6 points 8 months ago

    Not at all shocking because it was never really a double standard.

    The LNP exists to maintain the current power structures of Australia. If you in any way threaten that structure (based on Anglo-European patriarchal values) the LNP will be against you. If you uphold those values they will support you.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 61 points 8 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 30 points 8 months ago (12 children)

    I got down voted last time for pointing out that "between the river and the sea" was the motto of the town of mosman park

  • source
  • hideshow 12 child comments
  • [–] 16 points 8 months ago (10 children)
  • [–] 10 points 8 months ago (7 children)

    Close. There are two potentially relevant Farnam songs that may have been conflated in this discourse. One is That’s Freedom, which includes the lines "From the mountain to the valley / From the ocean to the alley / From the highway to the river". And the other is Two Strong Hearts, which repeatedly uses the line "Reaching out forever like a river to the sea". Neither quite uses "from the river to the sea", but together they give the same sort of impression.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago (4 children)

    You're the voice we needed on this.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    Thanks, I appreciate that. But I'm just some random white dude on the Internet. The voices we really need are more prominent figures (including politicians) who can greatly influence their followers, brave anti-zionist Jewish people who can provide a clear counterexample to Israel's false conflation, and the voices of the people directly affected by Israel's genocidal activities.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago* (2 children)

    You're the voice we needed on this.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • load more comments (1 reply)
    [–] [S] 48 points 8 months ago (6 children)

    Are we ok with this people?

  • source
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [–] 40 points 8 months ago (3 children)

    Obviously, assuming this is the whole story, no. Are there any planned protests? Is there an open donation box for this person's legal fees open? Is there any other way in which the average person can help?

    I'm getting sick of rhetorical questions about tyrannical governments, without any effort made to show people what they realistically can do to help.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 27 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    Is there an open donation box for this person’s legal fees open?

    Just had a look and found this one: https://chuffed.org/project/173177-justice-for-palestine-legal-defence

    Are there any planned protests?

    Justice for Palestine Magan-Djin (indigenous name for Brisbane) has announced a 'weekend of action' against the laws on the 18th-19th of April: https://www.instagram.com/p/DVvfrhOk20n/

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 43 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    NO ONE

    WANTS

    TO DIE

    FOR ISRAEL

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 15 points 8 months ago (9 children)

    Anyone know how likely it is for her to be given the max sentence?

  • source
  • hideshow 9 child comments
  • [–] 39 points 8 months ago

    The public prosecutor would need to prove the shirt was used to “menace, harassment or offence”. Even a mediocre defence lawyer should be able to have the charges thrown out.

    A good lawyer will take it to the High Court of Australia and get the legislation thrown out.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 14 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    This protester's charges have been resolved by their acceptance of an 'adult caution', so they won't be facing any more legal proceedings over this incident. More details in my comment here: https://aussie.zone/post/30509630/21880036

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [+] 0 points 7 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

    You said “lying”. I think even if she was no longer “facing two years in jail” (as in “at risk of”) when OP posted it, it was probably not done with the intention to deceive.

    The other person just gave an update without value judgment.

  • source
  • parent
  • [+] -9 points 8 months ago (4 children)
  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    She was arrested. Stupid enough, and a chilling affect on political speech

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [+] 1 point 7 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    I think we're roughly on the same page here, but I'm slightly confused. Mostly because I think our conceptions of "The Left" differ, and that "the left" never asked for laws clamping down on freedom of speech. Certainly not for the last 20 years or so. (Just opposing the brain-dead calls for 18c to be removed).

    These specific laws to ban these phrases from this post was passed by the QLD government in Queensland.

    I can still say from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free because I'm not in Queensland.

    The federal government, being stupid, recently passed extra "hate speech" laws which I believe will end up simply being used against political opponents. Right now it's anyone calling for the government to stop supporting genocide, but who knows what they'll be used for in the future.

    Currently, the federal legislation doesn't ban specific phrases, as far as I'm aware.

    It's all stupid, because racial hate speech was already illegal.

    "The left" (which I don't include the Labor party as a part of, they're centre at best, and centre right if we're being honest), never asked for extra stupid laws like this. And the biggest targets currently of our new hate speech laws will likely be leftist groups, since they're the ones who are in opposition to Israel's genocide, and the lobby groups from Israel who are basically telling our government what laws they'd like them to enact.

    To be clear, these other groups of people on "the left" (centrists) talking about identity politics are stupid, and playing right into the hands of "the right" doing the same thing, only on opposite sides of "the debate", meanwhile oligarchs are bleeding all of us dry...

    Do these laws clamp down on Nazis (the far right) too? Sure, but I don't actually believe that was the intended target, since again, Nazi speech was already illegal.

    I hate the way politics is going in our country...

    You and I don't seem to agree on much, but I'm happy at least we can agree that laws clamping down on political speech is dangerous and should be fought against at all costs.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 14 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    This is a John Farnham appreciation shirt! "TWO STRONG HEARTS. We stick together from the River to the Sea! Ruuuning free!" See. All good.

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 27 points 8 months ago (12 children)

    Does Australia not have freeze peach laws in general? Asking as an ignorant Yank.

  • source
  • hideshow 12 child comments
  • [–] 38 points 8 months ago (3 children)

    Its a very recent addition that creates some exceptions to australian free speech protections under the guise of combatting anti-semitism. Basically just the Israel lobby getting their personal laws.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [+] -16 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    From the river to the sea is not per se anti Jewish, Hamas has said that includes killing all 1.75 million Israeli Sunni Muslims too.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 9 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Hamas has said that includes killing all 1.75 million Israeli Sunni Muslims too.

    Got a source for that? I've seen you state it as fact multiple times now.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    Another time this users just drops by with some “facts” of a particular persuasion only to vanish without any clarification despite posting every other hour. Seems to be a bit of a pattern.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 21 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    We have a lot of laws and legal interpritation, but it isnt written into our constitution like the US.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 19 points 8 months ago

    Australia's constitution has been interpreted by our High Court to contain an implied right to freedom of political communication. Restrictions on that right may be constitutional if they are (1) for a valid purpose and are (2) narrowly targeted towards that purpose.

    The law she was arrested under was only passed by the Queensland state Parliament earlier this week (or late last week? I forget). It is definitely going to face constitutional challenge, and there is a very good chance it is ruled struck down. This is because the law literally outlaws two specific phrases from one side of a political issue, and is likely to be seen as stifling free flow of political discourse, rather than being a more "content-neutral" law.

    This article, written by a constitutional scholar, gives some great insight: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/08/the-lnps-phrase-banning-law-is-wide-open-to-constitutional-attack-is-it-a-victory-for-the-people-or-a-smart-political-play

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 8 points 8 months ago

    It's complicated.

    It's not a constitutional right.

    However, there's a lot of case law that supports the rights of citizens to express their thoughts about governments. All levels all processes, with the exception of sedition, treason, national security, et cetera.

    We do have strong defamation laws. There was a case a few years ago where a politician was found to have been "defamed" by another politician with respect to comments that were made.

    We also have recently strengthened hate speech laws, which is the issue in this specific picture.

    Finally spreading information that might compromise national security, and publications showing violence or other offensive content.

    In practice, I expect that the situation is similar to what it was in pre-Trump America. However, it's true that in theory the government could pass a law saying you're not allowed to say anything bad about the government.

    10 years ago any self respecting American would have pointed out how inferior our system is and that we don't have any rights or freedoms. I feel like that imbalance has shifted however.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago*

    In short our constitution is boring.

    There will be states, federal government will do this, states do everything else

    Separation of powers, there will be a crown, legislative (parliamentary), executive (public service) and judicial (courts).

    Then how to alter the constitution and add the ability to annex new Zealand and that's pretty much a wrap. Nothing fancy like yous have.

    Edit, forgot consolidated revenue

  • source
  • parent
  • load more comments (1 reply)
    [–] 24 points 8 months ago

    What a fucking legend.

  • source
  • [–] 18 points 7 months ago

    It's absurd. Like the British guy arrested for wearing a "Plasticine Action" tshirt.

  • source
  • [–] 9 points 8 months ago

    What about if I wore a South China Sea shirt? Would I get praised or arrested?

  • source
  • [–] 12 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    From Canada to Mexico, Iran will be free?

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    You know, in the UAE, they have freedom of speech enshrined in their laws, too...

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • load more comments
    view more: next ›
    115 comments in c/aboringdystopia@lemmy.world view that post