Page 3590 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 8 December 1992
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It is not excessively dramatic to say that not since the Second World War have we seen proposals for limiting freedom of expression as restrictive as some that are currently under discussion. All of them derive from the progressives of the new class and more importantly all of them are put forward in the name of protection of the innocent from hurtful speech ...
It is difficult to imagine anything more ludicrous than the Human Rights Commission making judgments about whether something is a work of art, whether a public discussion is bona fide, or whether a report is genuinely scientific. It is not just ludicrous. It reeks of all of the classical dangers of censorship. Moreover it is doubtful if it will achieve anything in relation to its declared and legitimate objective of diminishing racial tensions. (Comparative English legislation actually correlates with a rise in overt racist activity, and in the proportion of racist smut which is anonymous).
This was mentioned in Quadrant of May 1984. It may well be that the best way to counter racist attitudes is to permit their uninhibited expression. If the view is extreme, it will be seen to be such. If it is not extreme, why should debate be stifled? When we look at racism in Australia, there are many cases; but some never see the light of day and are never mentioned. There are many comments and what could be called racist remarks about people of Anglo-Celtic origin. There are many about people of German origin, particularly those relating to the war which are shown regularly on television in Australia. There must be many people of German origin in Australia who feel rather oppressed when they see the shows that are regularly shown in Australia. Arabs could well be another group that often are the subject of remarks that are intolerant.
Mr Berry: What about Jewish people? You do not want to talk about them.
MR STEVENSON: Mr Berry says, "What about Jewish people? You do not want to talk about them". In Australia one cannot freely talk about the Jewish people. Let me quote an article by Terry Lane. He titled it "I Surrender". He said:
I have said publicly that I will never write or speak on the subject of Israel or Palestine ever again. Here is why.
The Zionist lobby in this country is malicious, implacable, mendacious and dangerous. They have caused me a great deal of loss of sleep - and in the end, my insomnia has not contributed anything to the resolution of the conflict over Palestine. I might as well keep my mouth shut and get some sleep.
What's more, once the expression antisemite hits the air, or heaven-forefend, the sacred formula "six million" is uttered, then I know from bitter experience that there is not one manager or editor in the country who will defend an underling. We are thrown to the jackals.
In the end the truly tolerant have no defence against intolerance. I surrender. To the Zionists I say "you win". To the Palestinians "forgive my cowardice".
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