Originally Posted by jond

I totally agree, I also haven't done too much wrong but the thought of big brother watching over me makes me quite angry.

On the subject of CCTV who actually knows anyone who has had a crime solved by them?

As I said in an earlier post my mates who fits them mainly does them for employers who want to spy on their staff.

John

Originally Posted by tictac

Welcome to the Peoples Republic of Australia

Originally Posted by Tableland

Sadly, my prediction is that Australia will suffer under this regime for at least three terms.

Originally Posted by CynOpt

Drat , i was hoping the treehuggers would get in before it was too late.
Ah well, best head for the hills with my shot gun, shovel and 4 years supply of soup.

Originally Posted by Hutch

Okay. Firstly - I like living here. My family goes back nine generations in Australia and I'm proud to hold an Australian passport. You'll find my relatives names on the Welcome Wall in Sydney and on the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. That said, there are a couple of things about this country that I'd like to point out, that people might not be aware of.

1) There is no right to freedom of speech. To quote the Australian government's own website, "The Australian Constitution does not have any express provision relating to freedom of speech. In theory, therefore, the Commonwealth Parliament may restrict or censor speech through censorship legislation or other laws, as long as they are otherwise within constitutional power." This is actually in direct violation of the 1966 United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Australia is a signatory. In addition, Australia has stringent defamation laws which effectively extend to cover the globe.

2) There is no right to assembly. There is no law guaranteeing this right, rather Australian citizens rely on the absence of comprehensive formal restrictions rather than explicit protection through a constitution. The feebleness of this concept was well demonstrated during the G8 conference and the Catholic Youth Day festival in Sydney when the police were accorded draconian powers to deal with anyone who wore so much as an offensive t-shirt. Powers, it might be added, that they used.

3) Australia is one of the most censored 'Western' style democracies on the planet - and for that matter Queensland is far and away the most censorious state in Australia (QLD banned twice as many books and films as any other state). Legislation currently working its way through government will bring full scale censorship to the Internet placing Australia squarely in the immediate company of North Korea, Burma and China. Australia loves banning video games such as Grand Theft Auto IV.

If you'd like to get involved in the fight against Internet censorship in this country, start here.

Originally Posted by aussietobe

Australians have a lot of freedoms

Originally Posted by aussietobe

Funnily enough I don't have a problem with you are complaining about. Look at all the so-called 'rights' of people in the UK, and the problems that causes. I think you are barking up the wrong treee and games like Grand Theft Auto have no place in a civilised society. There are a lot of damaged people out there attracted to such violent and degrading games, and I dare say it is having a detrimental effect on our kids/young people. And don't get me started on internet porn!!! Australians have a lot of freedoms, and I don't think rioters at APEC would have added anything to our world.

Originally Posted by Hutch

Why don't games likes Grand Theft Auto have a place in a civilised society? There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that games or porn have any effect on young people. I've been playing computer games since the dawn of home computing and I haven't gone on a killing spree yet. And prior to the Internet the old porno mags were passed around at school - how is that any different to visiting a website?

Honestly, the sort of bollocks you just spouted is the same drivel that the god-bothering christian right espouse. It makes me sick to the core.

Originally Posted by Hutch

Why don't games likes Grand Theft Auto have a place in a civilised society? There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that games or porn have any effect on young people. I've been playing computer games since the dawn of home computing and I haven't gone on a killing spree yet. And prior to the Internet the old porno mags were passed around at school - how is that any different to visiting a website?

Honestly, the sort of bollocks you just spouted is the same drivel that the god-bothering christian right espouse. It makes me sick to the core.

Originally Posted by bigAPE

So true it's frightening. While I am not a fan of GTA or the banal violence games of that ilk (Postal, etc) I have no interest in banning or censoring them and fully agree that there is zero evidence that these games enforce or stimulate people into enacting their content in the same way that people who watch the SAW or Hostel films (which I also hate) go out and dismember people on the way home from the cinema.

Al

Originally Posted by kporte

i think that these things may influence the more simple members of society but the sound of music is just as likely to make them lose it, imho

Originally Posted by Tableland

If there's anything that could make me lose it then The Sound Of Music would be it.

Originally Posted by bigAPE

So true it's frightening. While I am not a fan of GTA or the banal violence games of that ilk (Postal, etc) I have no interest in banning or censoring them and fully agree that there is zero evidence that these games enforce or stimulate people into enacting their content in the same way that people who watch the SAW or Hostel films (which I also hate) go out and dismember people on the way home from the cinema.

Al

Originally Posted by Pollyana

In addition, it isn't as if it was only violence and porn that they are talkingof censoring. The government are talking of vetting everything we wish to visit on the internet - including sites discussing such subjects as anorexia and euthanasia. How long would websites like this last, with wide-ranging discussions of numerous topics that the Australian government would consider unsuitable for its over-protected people.