The Australian Greens are trying to use weasel words to explain away their disastrous choice of candidate for the Higgins by-election on 5 December 09. Dr Clive Hamilton is an outspoken supporter of internet censorship, which is directly contrary to avowed Greens’ policy. Either the candidate or the party is trying to pull a political ‘fraud’ on the people.
Greens try to weasel out of election ‘fraud’
The Australian Greens are trying to use weasel words to explain away their disastrous choice of candidate for the Higgins by-election on 5 December.
They have chosen Dr Clive Hamilton, the poster boy for Labor Senator Conroy in his rabid campaign to censor the internet in Australia, for which he has been voted ‘Internet International Villain of the Year’.
Dr Hamilton jumped on board the censorship bandwagon early and with a flourish. He endorsed a virtual “anything goes” approach to government censorship. It didn’t matter how slow the internet got, or how the government curtailed people’s freedoms to access information…all would be OK under the dictatorial approach of Dr Hamilton.
For years Dr Hamilton had worn sheep’s clothing as head of the Australia Institute, but he suddenly revealed he was a wolf when it came to denying people freedom of information and communication.
His candidacy for Peter Costello’s vacated Victorian seat has forced the Green’s Communications spokesperson, Senator Scott Ludlam, into impersonating a pretzel. “The Greens position on the Government’s proposed internet filtering plan remains the same – we have serious concerns over the viability of the scheme being put forward by Communications Minister Conroy. Dr Hamilton has, in the past, outlined his support for any system designed to prevent children accessing pornography online – a sentiment that the Australian Greens fully support,” Senator Ludlam said.
“We are still awaiting an actual policy from the Government – the Greens will make a final call once we’ve seen the trial results and some hint of an actual policy from the Government,” he said.
So, do the Greens change their avowed policy against internet censorship, or does Dr Hamilton change his repressive philosophy supporting internet censorship? The two are absolutely incompatible, and for Dr Hamilton to stand on a Greens ticket will be a political fraud on either his or the party’s behalf…depending on how the question is answered.
– Bill Rowlings, CEO, Civil Liberties Australia