Former Speaker says democracy, freedom at risk with Labor’s misinformation and media agenda

One of Parliament’s leading advocates for social media reform and national security has sensationally warned that we are at a crossroads when it comes to the future of freedom in Australia, after the Labor Government hijacked a landmark inquiry into social media to propose measures to weaken Australian media and push its misinformation agenda. The Coalition took the significant step of issuing a dissenting report.

Andrew Wallace, the 31st Speaker of the House of Representatives, warned that the Albanese Labor Government was putting Australia’s democracy at risk with his efforts to undermine Australian media while pushing for dangerous and controversial misinformation laws. He referenced American news legend, Walter Cronkite, who said, “Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy”.

“On one hand, the Government seems intent on weakening Australia’s independent news sector, whilst on the other, proposing an unprecedented power grab which would divide Australians and which all but establishes a Government ministry for ‘truth’ designed to censor and police Australians’ speech.”

“These so-called misinformation laws were not just a threat to free speech, but a direct assault on Australia's democracy and security. You can’t have a media industry dependent on Government funding, while in the same breath, empowering that same government to police the news – that’s how you crush accountability and aspiration,” Mr Wallace warned.

“In response to the Watergate scandal, US Judge Hugo Black said, “The press was to serve the governed, not the governors”, and yet, if Anthony Albanese gets his way, the press will be both funded and constrained by the Australian Government.”

Mr Wallace, who serves as the Deputy Chair of Parliament’s powerful intelligence and security committee, acknowledged that misinformation and disinformation campaigns are being used to sow discord, interfere with our democracy, and to exploit vulnerable Australians.

“This Government’s solution to every problem it faces is either to sweep it under the carpet, throw money at it, or use it as an excuse to bloat our bureaucracy,” Mr Wallace continued, “Instead of strengthening Australia’s media sector - in the public interest - Anthony Albanese seems intent on weakening Australian journalism, while scrambling for the power to tell Australians what’s ‘true’ and what isn’t. It’s dangerous, it’s reckless, and it should send shivers up the spine of every single Australian.”

“This legislation isn’t about protecting Australians; it’s about control, it’s about censorship, and it’s a slippery slope to the kind of dystopian control we were warned about in schoolbooks like 1984” Mr Wallace warned.

“Under the Coalition, Big Tech paid for news. Under Labor, they’re getting off scot-free, while our news providers pay the price for Anthony Albanese’s weak leadership and obsession with political power.”

“Meanwhile, parents and experts are crying out for help to keep their kids safe online. That’s what the Coalition is focused on – keeping kids safe and holding big tech to account.”

Mr Wallace is calling on Sunshine Coast locals to stand up and fight for free speech and a fair media by joining the campaign at www.binthebill.au.

You can find the text of the Dissenting Report from Coalition Members to the Second Interim Report of the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society at https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Social_Media/SocialMedia