NZ Herald supports abolition of sedition law
The NZ Herald has backed calls to abolish the sedition law. Good. Extracts:
Sedition is not at all common and is largely irrelevant to people’s daily lives. Yet it is a charge which is misused on occasion and represents an overly broad, worrying threat to one of our most basic rights, the freedom of expression.
The Law Commission’s final report … saying the provisions are overly broad. “They infringe on the principle of freedom of expression and have the potential for abuse, a potential that has been realised in some periods of our history, when these offences have been used to stifle or punish political speech.” It goes on to observe that in a democracy it is hard to see how or why speech uttered against the government should be a crime. And it says that other parts of the Crimes Act deal adequately with inciting violence, rioting and willing insurrection.
We have a largely open society, but it is one in which threats to freedom of expression and the freedom of the press regularly arise. The Law Commission’s clear and forceful report is a welcome support for free speech. It usefully quotes English writer and thinker John Milton from a speech in 1644: “Give me the liberty to know, to utter and to argue freely according to conscience above all liberties … Let [truth] and falsehood grapple; whoever knew truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter.”
April 13th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Having commented on this matter before, I now wish only to reflect on your quotation and ponder how the Exclusive Brethren must wish the sentiments could be applied to them.
April 13th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
‘Sedition is a term of law to refer to covert conduct such as speech and organization that is deemed by the legal authority as tending toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often included subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent (or resistance) to lawful authority. Sedition may include any commotion, though not aimed at direct and open violence against the laws. Seditious words in writing are seditious libel.’ – Wikipedia.
Wake up fools. If KKKlarKKK loses the next election and refuses to hand over the keys (sic) there is nothing else that (s)he can be possibly charged with.
April 13th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Yep lets have freer speech but restrict how much of your own money you can spend doing it.
Sounds like typical government hogwash to me like the “deregulation” farce.
April 13th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
Is treason still on the books?. If so I wish to nominate the Liarbour party for fucking up the country. Will happily supply tree, horse and rope.
April 13th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
The NZ Herald advocating for free speech is like the Dahlai Lhama advocating for gun rights.. these left wing scum have never allowed any real freedom of expression in their shitty little rag.. I wrote to them some years ago about the lack of balance in their opinion columns, instancing a one month period when the commentators were almost 100% left wing. They replied that the “right wing” balance was provided by some dipshit called Eagles who wrote in the business section. I looked for his columns after that and couldn’t get one even slightly “right wing” idea from any I read. Eagles was as left as any of the chickenshit Herald journalists.
I have always thought this event to be a good indication of what an out of touch bunch of commie losers run that excuse for a newspaper. Freedom of expression?? What about continuous IPPC promoted propaganda on global warming with a complete lack of support for opposing views?? What about persistently repeating hate motivated far left talking points on George Bush? What about unending left wing propaganda on Iraq? What about sheltering Helen Klark in the Doone affair?
NZ Herald advocating for free speech?? What a sick joke. Like Castro advocating for democracy.
April 14th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
What the fuck gives the Herald the right to morally ‘back’ something, whether or not you think they are correct?
April 16th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Wait till theres a few more muslims in NZ and you will see a total ban on “freedom of Speech” the mohammed cartoons were a classic LOL.