MEDIA GAG SCRAPPED
THE Palaszczuk Government has sensationally backflipped on its controversial laws to criminalise journalism.
After the Bulletin’s front page story on the media gag, Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath announced the bill would be withdrawn.
A Gold Coast MP said it was a “national embarrassment” and a top academic felt the laws were susceptible to legal challenges.
THE Palaszczuk Government has sensationally backflipped on its controversial laws to criminalise journalism.
After the Bulletin’s front page story yesterday on the media gag, Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath announced the bill would be withdrawn.
Labor had wanted to make it illegal to publish corruption allegations levelled against candidates for state and local government elections. The offence carried a $6672 fine or a six-month jail term.
Surfers Paradise MP JohnPaul Langbroek said the Premier’s reasons for withdrawing a bill limiting freedom of speech was “specious and spurious” after a media outcry within 24 hours. “Not just hopeless; a national embarrassment,” he said, and questioned how the bill got past Cabinet when Annastacia Palaszczuk’s senior advisers rallied against a similar proposal three years ago.
“It makes a mockery of the Premier’s oft quoted openness about integrity and accountability,” he said.
Southern Cross University media lecturer Jeanti St Clair said the laws were against democratic interests.
“Imagine not being allowed to know if candidates were being investigated for corruption. It’s a positive sign that they have been withdrawn. One only hopes that this is the last we see of them,” she said.
Assistant Professor at Bond University Faculty of Law, Victoria Baumfield said the time when the public needed access to allegations of corruption was during an election.
“Then it’s up to the candidate to explain why the allegations are unfounded,” she said.
“It’s almost as though they’re assuming the public is too stupid to understand that there’s two sides to every story.
Bond University Associate Professor of Constitutional and Human Rights Law, Dr Danielle Ireland-Piper said: “While this issue is ultimately about balancing two reasonable interests – the need for the public to know and the need to protect individuals from false allegations – it’s possible that parts of the proposed legislation may have triggered legal action under the Australian Constitution and the Queensland Human Rights Act.
“Some components of the bill, such as there being no need to prove intent in order to be criminally liable for a prohibited publication, or the need to wait up to three months for the CCC to report back on a proposed publication, may have raised legitimate questions for a court about that balance.”
Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said: “The Government respects the recommendations of the CCC. However, given the limited time for the parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee to consider the law changes the CCC seeks, the CCC Bill introduced yesterday in state parliament is withdrawn.”