The Labor government’s prohibited hate group laws combat racism and anti-Semitism by “abolishing liberal democracy”, one of Australia’s leading civil liberties groups has warned.
The new laws, passed by both major parties in response to the Bondi Islamic terrorist attack, were used to ban the White Australia Party last month, resulting in a constitutional challenge in the High Court of Australia by the Party and National President Thomas Sewell, which is set to be heard in September.
Mr Sewell launched a GiveSendGo in January to fund his legal fight, which he removed after the official listing of the Party but restored last week following legal advice that it was not illegal to donate, resulting in a flood of new contributions that have taken the amount raised to $180,000.
The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (QCCL) said in an article on Tuesday that although the Party’s bid for an injunction suspending the legislation until the case is decided was declined last week, it did not mean the challenge would be unsuccessful.
“It is entirely possible for litigation where an injunction is refused, to go on to succeed at trial. Hence, this judgement says nothing about what the outcome will be in September,” the QCCL wrote.
The civil liberties group also noted that in declining to grant the injunction High Court Chief Justice Stephen Gageler “felt the need to confirm explicitly that the refusal of the injunction did not prevent Mr Sewell from continuing to receive advice and representation from his legal counsel”.
“The fact that this was ever in doubt reveals the dangerous path this nation is heading down,” the QCCL wrote.
The QCCL went on to state that the legislation was not the “Nazi Disestablishment Act” and “can be exercised against any controversial group, for any conduct however far in the past, on the recommendation of a secret police force”.
“We are living in truly bizarre times. The ALP is banning political parties, while open Nazis are making spirited defences of liberal democracy in the media,” the QCCL wrote, referring to an interview given last week by activist Jacob Hersant after he was convicted of booing a “welcome to country” ceremony.
“Obviously, racism and anti-Semitism are evils that reasonable people do not wish to see flourishing in the community. But are they such great evils to justify abolishing liberal democracy itself? Are we any better than the Nazis if we imprison political dissidents for speech acts on executive action?
“Is it even possible to ban an ideology? Our position remains that it is safer to provide extremists with a peaceful outlet for their views and that the proper way to defeat those views is through debate and electoral politics, not criminal sanctions.
“While exposure to these views will undoubtedly cause distress to some members of the community, that is the price to be paid for living in a free society.”
Mr Sewell wrote in an updated description for the fundraiser that the challenge “seeks to protect the right of all Australians to politically communicate and organise, now and for those generations to come”.
“Our case will also have a political flow on effect to other nations in the Anglosphere such as the UK, Canada and New Zealand, who face similar draconian legislation.
“All donations are to me, the second plaintiff, as the government has made supporting the White Australia Party a crime, punishable by 10 years imprisonment. All donations will go towards the legal battle for free speech and political communication in Australia.”
Header image: Left, Thomas Sewell (GiveSendGo). Right, Tony Burke, the minster responsible for the ban (Facebook).
The post Warning hate group laws ‘abolish democracy’ as challenge fundraiser hits $180K first appeared on The Noticer.
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