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Free speech being eroded: report

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http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Fre...4117927878.html

Free speech and media freedom in Australia are slowly being whittled away by legal restrictions and a secretive culture among public officials, according to a damning new report.

An audit by former NSW ombudsman Irene Moss, released on Monday, highlights how much information Australians are being denied access to.

The audit, commissioned by a coalition of major media groups, says there are 500 pieces of legislation and at least 1,000 court suppression orders in force that restrict media reporting or the release of information to the public.

They were part of a "growing culture of secrecy, defensiveness and mutual mistrust" on the part of government and other public bodies, Ms Moss said.

"The audit would broadly conclude that free speech and media freedom are being whittled away by gradual and sometimes almost imperceptible degrees," she said at the launch in Sydney.

"What the audit can observe is that many of the mechanisms that are vital to a well-functioning democracy are beginning to wear thin ... their functioning in many areas is flawed and not well-maintained."

Ms Moss said Freedom of Information (FoI) laws did not always help, and sometimes even hindered, the flow of information to the public.

"Sometimes the FoI provisions which were intended to help people get information, are used as an excuse to withhold it," she said.

Ms Moss also criticised the "non-existent or flawed" institutional support for whistleblowers exposing corruption and maladministration.

Shield laws protecting journalists were also inadequate, while the flow of information from the court system was "found wanting", stifled by a raft of suppression orders, she said.

Ms Moss, also a former chair of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), said the findings should ring alarm bells for Australians concerned about democracy and free speech.

"The greatest loss in this battle is not to the media but to the Australian people and their right to know about important matters that affect them," she said.

The Moss report was "deeply troubling" and presented a clear need for legislative reform, head of Australia's Right To Know Coalition, News Ltd chief executive John Hartigan said.

The coalition also includes the ABC, Fairfax, AAP and representatives from commercial radio and television.

"The Moss report shows that the slide into censorship and secrecy is evident at all levels of government and among political parties," he said.

"Government and judiciary need to lift their act."

With a few weeks remaining of the federal election campaign, Fairfax chief executive David Kirk called on the federal government to match Labor's promise to improve freedom of information if elected.

Two weeks ago Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd pledged to improve journalistic privilege, whistleblower protection and privacy laws.

"I cannot think of a better moment for some me-too policies from the coalition," Mr Kirk said.

"I think it is incumbent on the prime minister and the attorney general to be fully responsive to the issues presented in the Moss report.

"It is a great opportunity to lock in these reforms now, on a fully bipartisan basis, before the campaign is over."

Failure to act on the report's findings would lead "poor decision making, lack of accountability ... and just a general culture of secrecy" Mr Kirk said.

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Surely in a democracy the people need to know whats going on, in order to make informed decsions. I highly doubt things would be much different under Kevin07.

I'm afraid this is the general pattern in all western nations, whether free speech is written in their constituitions or not.

And we invade countries based on 'freedom' and 'democracy' MEH!

Edited by --{ MAYJA }--

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