The Prime Minister this week got all worked up about the conduct of Woolworths and Coles allegedly promoting discounts that they did not deliver.
This from a Prime Minister who promised us a discount of $275 off our power bills that he never delivered.
A politician lying is not a new thing but what is new from this Prime Minister is that he wants to penalise anyone else caught lying except for himself.
That is his plan anyway with the publication of the governments Orwellian titled “Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation” Bill.
The proposed legislation defines misinformation as something that is “reasonably verifiable as false, misleading or deceptive” that causes “serious harm”.
The definition of “serious harm” includes damage to electoral processes, public health and imminent harm to the Australian economy, including “harm to public confidence in the banking system.”
These “harms” are so broad to capture almost any content that governments or powerful corporations do not like.
Before the Global Financial Crisis, there were some voices expressing concern about the banks use of mortgage backed securities.
Authorities assured us that all was safe and this was just a normal example of financial innovation.
Under the government’s laws there is no doubt that banks would have pressured social media companies to take down criticism of their speculative activities because it could harm “public confidence in the banking system.”
A serious harm is also defined as anything that could question the “efficacy of preventative health measures.”
Many people were accused of spreading misinformation when they dared to question our public health overlords locking us down interminably, closing schools, relying on thin, porous masks and imposing vaccine mandates.
Almost all of these critiques were proven right.
One of the so-called “safe and effective” vaccines (AstraZeneca) even had its approval cancelled.
The problem is that one person’s misinformation today is the same person’s fact tomorrow.
The way we learn is to constantly accept critical views.
If we silence criticism it will take all of us longer to learn from our mistakes.
What is even stranger, is that in the list of serious harms the Government has defined, nowhere is our defence forces listed.
You can be silenced if you critique our electoral authorities, the banks or public health officials but you have carte blanche to spread whatever lies you like about our military.
Now I do not think any of this criticism should be silenced but if this was a serious effort to protect our national interest don’t you think our armed forces deserve protection!
Social media has not caused the decline in trust of our institutions.
A multitude of scandals resulting from the poor conduct of people in those institutions has caused this.
Politicians constantly lie. Our banks defraud people on a regular basis.
Scientists fabricate data in support of radical climate action.
And then these same people have the gall to point the finger at those exposing this misconduct.
The only proper way to re-establish trust in our society is to improve the behaviour and standards of those running our society.
A clumsy attempt to gag citizens will have the opposite effect.
You are unlikely to trust anyone who says that they are so ethical that criticism of them must be silenced.
True to form the government is even trying to limit criticism of their censorship bill.
They have given people just a week to make a submission to the bill and they are trying to rush an inquiry so that they can force the Bill through before Christmas.
Just a few months ago Labor teamed up with the Greens to gag any debate on their digital ID Bill and I fear they will do the same on this bill.
It will be another irony if the government gag the Senate on a bill that is designed to gag their own people.
