It appears the Australian Government likes regulating what had normally been 'free press' areas. I believe the best comment on the Howard Government's latest backdoor attempt at press censorship is Bill Leak's (left). I first became aware of this outrage when watching ABC TV's Media Watch.
]]> For the uninitiated, MediaWatch is a weekly media commenting show on the ABC. They take the role of a media watchdog, but also provide views on media rights, responsibilities and ethics. The show in my opinion allows the average Aussie a snippet view into the workings of the Australian press & its interactions (and influences) with Australian society. Anyway, back to the topic...
Ashmore Off Limits - ABC Media Watch 10/05/04Canberra wants everybody up in the Australian tropics, to stay right where they belong – particularly boat people and journalists.
In early March this year, when a boat load of Indonesians was found dumped on Ashmore Reef, there was a posse of press on a Customs boat only a few hours away raring to get at the story.
One of them, The Australian’s Nicolas Rothwell, sensed there might be problems.
For the full transcript of the show, follow the above link...
It really raises questions about this Government's manipulation of the media. We have already saw them win an election riding on the back of boat-people villifed for wanting a better life. But with the treatment of these people in places like the Port Headland Detention Centre, perhaps Australian's these days are more sympathetic to their plight. I hope this is the case. Maybe this is why they tried to keep it under wraps. The Government's previous policies has limited their maneouverability on this issue.
Does this mean the average Australian public's reaction to border protection and illegal immigration issues has changed dramatically since 2001/2002? Have we become more complacent to these issues, or are we more sympathetic to these people's plight? I hope so. And this might be the case. The Howard Government must have a firm opinion on this. In my opinion, in past election's the Coalition relied on 1 card trick election policies (Backlash against Keating, Post-September 11 fears, Pork-barrelling of the Baby-Boomers). I think the public are much more aware of this after the 3rd occassion. I believe the Howard Government policy is that the public don't need a reminder on how they were manipulated back before the last election. Hence their attempts at keeping this winter's refugee wave under wraps. Plus I think they are quite happy that young families (last 2 years first home owners - social engineering?) are set up to exploit this time around.
This is getting a little too much even for me. But I guess this is what blogs are for.
(I hear the people coming for me now.... better log off...) ;)