cosmo kramer
Banned
what speech shouldnt be free
How about:Fuck both major parties. Let's be a republic.
This is true, but I think the government needed to do something to stem the damage this is doing to the economy (not caused by the policy itself, but the hysteria that has been whipped up about it). Industry groups are starting their own ads soon and your average voter thinks armageddon is coming. The ads will do nothing to repair the damage done to Gillard's rep, nor should they.These sort of ads can only be justified if they are solely designed to provide factual information about upcoming changes to the law following the passage of a bill through parliament.
This ad campaign does not fit such a criteria at all. It does not even attempt to explain the proposed scheme. Even if it did there isn't even a bill written and before parliament. Parliament isn't the executive's rubber stamp and it cannot be assumed that a proposal will be the same as the bill that finally becomes law. There may be amendments, it may not even pass. Hence ad campaigns should ideally wait until after royal accent. To do otherwise is an affront to parliamentary democracy.
Gillard defends the ads by saying Howard did it. Well two wrongs don't make a right. I also recall the intense criticism from Labor at the time of the WorkChoices and GST ads. Rudd called such government advertising 'a cancer on our democracy'. Too right. Astounding hypocrisy. Note also that both the Work Choices and GST ad campaigns came AFTER their respective bills had passed the parliament.
Certainly it should stop you saying them.lol lentern thinks the government should stop people from saying certain words in a certain order
I disagree with this on a base, fundamental philosophical level.Yes, but you first mentioned it was labor.
Frankly this is only a problem because of this obsessive freedom of speech complex we have in this nation. A blanket ban on televised advertising for political causes be them Government, Opposition, Getup, The Minerals Council or the unions would see and end to the hundreds of millions of dollars which are burned up in this stupid game of sloganeering every election, money which could be used for something good.
Not sure about the UK, I think in NZ parliamentary parties get an allocated 3 million to spend on advertising and that's it which seems to work ok but I don't like the idea of parties that are already in the tent getting a helping hand over ones that aren't.I disagree with this on a base, fundamental philosophical level.
From a pragmatic standpoint I don't really have an issue with it. They do it in the UK, don't they?