Communications Minister Stephen Conroy appealed for people to have faith in politicians, in a bid to secure support for his mandatory internet filtering proposals. He accused opponents of producing ‘conspiracy theories‘. Even the Minister’s rhetoric is starting to suffer as the silliness of his position becomes more obvious. Read more from the IT News report
Conroy requests faith in net filter scheme
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has urged detractors of the Government’s proposed Internet Filtering scheme to have faith in their elected parliamentarians to pass the right legislation.
Mandatory Internet filtering has been met with opposition from many Australians on technical, legal and political grounds.
Speaking at the annual ATUG conference today, Senator Stephen Conroy described some of this opposition as "conspiracy theories." Conroy ridiculed suggestions that the trial is "the thin edge of the wedge" – the beginnings of a Government cracking down on political dissent.
He said the Senate, with its balance of views, will provide the rigorous assessment of any proposed changes to Internet censorship required to achieve positive outcomes. "There is this argument out there that says – my God! We can’t let the Senate have a say on this!"
"The Government of Australia is elected," he said. "If the parliament wants to take this path, the last time I checked, that’s ok."
– By Brett Winterford 13 March 2009
http://www.itnews.com.au/News/98679,conroy-requests-faith-in-net-filter-scheme.aspx