Luke Skerman

It's not the lie that bothers me, it is the insult to my intelligence. To solve the problem pictured below, the government has invented the cause in their mind. A cause that barely exists and is not taken particularly seriously by the Australian people - namely the NSN or Neo Nazis. I am not here to defend them or their ideology, let me make that abundantly clear. But for the government to ban speech they don't like, or to ban political groups they don't like, and to weaponise their position of power against a political movement in the name of social cohesion, is one thing - and not necessarily a good thing. For them to act as though legislation that is targeted at their wider political opposition - that had precisely nothing to do with the terror attack - will somehow solve the problems with social cohesion... now that is the insult. A vile attack, perpetrated by a father and son, on unarmed civilians at a religious festival, in a targeted attack that was undoubtably an attack on Jewish people. That is beyond doubt. But it was not perpetrated by the hapless Neo Nazis and the White Australia crew. It wasn't perpetrated by conservative Australians, or those that line up as classical liberals. It was not perpetrated by libertarians, or any of the others that oppose the Labor government to their right. But that is precisely who will be targeted by these attacks on speech, assembly and association. You might think that is fine, because you are not that way inclined. But know this, they will not stop at those groups. At some point everyone, and everything that is not positively in support of their ideas, will be the enemy. It is a dangerous move by a desperate Prime Minister, who is losing more and more popularity by the day. Many Australians have had enough of the mass immigration, forced "multiculturalism", and other 'modern Australian' ideas. Because the real social and economic problems in this country don't get addressed, they get ignored. This new legislation will only add pressure to the political frustrations Australians have, and adding pressure adds heat. What's worse, it is rather obvious that the legislation, like the government's rhetoric will not only ignore the real problems, but it will also enable them. Social cohesion cannot be mandated... and lies can't be squeezed into truth. Political movements often form as a reaction to the status quo. The worse the status quo - the more those movements strengthen. The Australian government must see a future where things become much worse. There are things that they can do to make them better, but they don't want to do those things, or they don't know how to. So rather than do the hard things and address the real issues head-on - acting in the best interest of the majority of Australians - they will simply make speaking out and organising against the government illegal. But surely in a democratic country, organising politically and speaking out are basic rights. Evidently not in 'modern Australia'. We must fight this, even if we don't agree with the views of those we fight for. That is the essence of our democracy and the key to a fair go. We must use our voices while we still can. I just want Australia back.