Twas on this day in 1788 that Governor Phillip landed at Port Jackson and claimed the Eastern seaboard of Australia for King George III. Australia did not become an officially unified country until 1901.
The Colony of New South Wales was essentially a penal colony, where those lucky enough to escape a hanging in England were transported to face years of hard labour in Australia.
So yes essentially many of the first settlers were convicts, the men and women who built this country were considered criminals.
And so it seems (as I blatantly segue) we are still to be considered criminals, having the internet( a great avenue for grass roots democracy) filtered by a government that pays no heed to the objections of its own people.
A government that is ideologically fixed to deliver a an expensive, imperfect filter for a problem that doesn’t exist.
I have to ask my Australian readers. Are we really as stupid as the caricature in the video below? The lack lustre response to the Government’s attempts to censor free speech has me wondering.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Global Atheist, Sheila, SeandBlogonaut, JulianaMarie, Dikkii and others. Dikkii said: ♺ @SeandBlogonaut: New blog post: http://tinyurl.com/ydqybve – Happy Australia Day my fellow criminals. [...]
> I have to ask my Australian readers. Are we really as stupid as the caricature in the video below? The lack lustre response to the Government’s attempts to censor free speech has me wondering.
In my experience, we Aussies are excellent whingers, and piss-poor protesters. We're quick to point out why something the government proposes is a bloody stupid idea, but we rely too much on it simply not working.
The idea of actually communicating our displeasure *to* the government, by calling our representatives or demonstrating protest or any other means that might actually reach them, seems to be anathema to the Australian way of life. When the idea is raised that we could get together and make our voices heard to stop a government-funded idiocy, people are indifferent and wait for someone else to do it.
Many other countries have stirring tales of public backlash against bad actions by government. When one thinks of Australian examples, what comes to mind? Eureka stockade seems to be the most recent one that anyone can easily bring to mind. Hardly anything of a role model to stand up for ourselves.
I seem to remember a rather large bridge walk in Sydney which Howard labelled a mob. I think that this plan to censor/filter just doesn't do enough to disrupt the lives of middle class Australia. As long as the economy's good and we have a 3d televisions who gives a damn about the threat to liberty.
And who are you calling bignose