In a significant backstep from their election promise to enforce mandatory blocklists that are unable to be questioned or checked by anyone except the elite few in the Government who are allowed to see which sites are on the list - and why - the Australian Federal Government's Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, today told a Senate Estimates Committee that the government may be backing away from this policy, yet still hope that all ISPs choose to deploy this draconian block.
As I've said before, I thought we were a free country, unlike China which has a similar policy. OK, hang on, K Rudd speaks Mandarin, so maybe he's a Communist and is trying to turn Australia into a Communist State? (Sure, I don't believe that, that was a joke. As in humor. Get it?) I hope he does - not understand the humor, but see the silliness of this filter.
I want for all Australian parents to be able to instill in their children the values and morals that they feel comfortable with - not those that the government forces upon us. I want a parent to be able to explain to a child why they feel a particular way about something such as pornography or bomb making (after all, what else is the Internet used for, apparently?) and not have the government make our minds up for us.
Do I want us to live in a society where the government watches our every keystroke, our every move, and tells us all what to think? Not on your life. There are too many previously free countries that this is happening to these days, and I'm certainly not wanting this to happen down here in Australia. I want the right to be able to use my own intellect and morals to make decisions for myself and my kids and I want this same capability for every Australian - the ability to be able to take responsibility for our own decisions.
Regards,
The Outspoken Wookie
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