Although Australia is a country of Liberal Democracy there are still debates on what core values should be upheld. It today’s News, the Sydney Morning Herald printed an article about how freedom of speech may be in jeopardy in Australia.
Recently two of Sydney Morning Herald’s reporters wrote an article criticizing Australia’s Crime Commission, which is Australia’s national criminal intelligence agency. This particular agency is very secretive and has a vast amount of power. Having the ability to tap phones, collect personal information, and search homes without knowledge or consent of the individual.
Once the articles were printed the Crime Commission made an announcement that it wanted to seize the reporter’s phones and SIM cards in order to discover their sources. If this demand is granted the reporters could be held in contempt if they refuse to give up their phones and private information. Recently the courts enacted the Federal Evidence Amendment Act, which allows disclosure of a source if it is in the public’s interest. Because of this act, the reporters in question may be forced to give up their sources.
In this article this is a strong stance against the Crime Commission and the new Federal Evidence Act. The author believes that the act should be amended as soon as possible because if sources no longer feel safe to disclose information to journalist, Australians will miss out on reliable news. It will also force many Australians to stay in the dark about behind the scenes corruption because in most cases, these stories leak out due to inside sources, who may no longer come forward.
The most powerful statement in the article states “Freedom of speech has no meaning if the government and their agencies are above public criticism and being accountable.”
Out of the whole article I felt that was the most important sentence because it really shows the importance of freedom of speech. By being able to openly talk about government, we the people are also holding the government accountable. If journalists are allowed to keep their sources in confidentiality the Australian public can keep a closer eye on government, even behind closed doors.
If the reporters are forced to give up their information it will be a huge violation of Australian human rights.
That would most definitely be a violation of freedom of speech. We as people should be able to criticize our Government. If the government of Australia is acting against its journalists then that is not right and something should be done to ensure that the government does not get out of line.
ReplyDeleteI am really surprised at this. I always think of Australia as a progressive,liberal democracy, no different from our own. Obviously there are many differences, however I would not be terribly surprised that eventually our own government committed these same types of acts. I feel like during the last administration this kind of "big brother" mentality might have eventually turned into this.
ReplyDeleteI'm also surprised that Australia is trying to control the freedom of speech of its citizens and more surprised that it is coming from the crime commission, who in my opinion should know that asking the journalists to disclose their sources may jeorpadize the trust that people have in them. I'm pretty sure that they would in no circumstance give out their sources, so why should the journalsits?
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