Tuesday, 17 October 2023

Voice to Parliament

David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (16:17): Whatever way you voted in the Voice referendum, I think we can all be glad about one thing: thank goodness it is over. In my first speech in this place, I spoke about the social harm caused by identity politics. Unfortunately, this referendum proved my point. I feel we could have saved a lot of money and had the same result if we had called off the referendum and simply declared 2023 the year of calling each other racist. However, I worry it is not over. I am seriously concerned about how the Voice result will be used as a Trojan Horse for censorship. This has been foreshadowed in a number of ways. The Prime Minister was complaining about the media well before the result was known, and on Saturday the Age ran a cartoon with Elon Musk filling out a ballot paper with a big X. Blaming Elon Musk for a referendum result in Australia makes about as much sense as blaming the people who make chalk sticks for something written on a footpath. On the weekend, we heard the usual rhetoric about accepting the democratic decision of the Australian people, but how can you believe in democracy unless you believe in free speech? The Libertarian Party will not stand for these attacks on our free speech, both in this state and in federal Parliament. Governments of all kinds are hereby put on notice: we are watching, and your failure to win the Voice to Parliament does not give you the right to gag the rest of us.