Servant of Chaos

No Clean Feed - Internet Censorship in Australia

If you use Twitter, you may have noticed a bunch of people are using avatars with an X across their mouths. This is a protest against the Australian Government’s plans to implement an internet content filter. This plan places a blanket of censorship across the internet which will, no doubt, have unforeseen consequences – and puts our access to information on a par with China and Iran. (My friend CK, pictured, has joined in, and I would encourage others to do the same.)

For example, when travelling in China I found that I was unable to access my blog. It is not like I write dissenting material. I put it down, in the end, to the title of the blog – Servant of Chaos. It seems China does not approve of chaos. And I am concerned that this “new Australia” may follow suit.

Furthermore, once internet filtering is in place, what safeguards will we have over excessive filtering? What rights of recourse will we have to follow to have our websites “white listed”? And how much will this cost? Is this perhaps a veiled attempt to “control the conversation” emanating from a growing and more vocal constituency via blogs and social media?

While this may be alarmist, remember, we are now just emerging from a time where political debate was managed according to “core” and “non-core” promises. It is disappointing to think that some of the first digital steps of a new government are those being contemplated by Stephen Conroy. It is frightening to consider where this may lead, or more importantly, what impact it will have on our nation’s innovation and place in a global knowledge economy.

There are more details on The Australian’s website where I left the following comment:

So our government is aiming to spend more than $40 million dollars of taxpayer money on technology which can be circumvented and does not achieve their stated aims?    
Why not invest this money in the FUTURE of our country? Put it into the ailing education systems and teach our kids how to safely use the Internet. Or use it to bulk purchase the XO Laptop -- which would deliver 200,000 computers into the hands of kids who cannot afford them.      
As the saying goes, give a man a fish and his hunger will be satisfied (for now). Teach him to fish and he will feed his community.      
We have just had 12 years of feeding. It is time to fish.

Update: Get Shouty's "future husband" (wouldn't they make a lovely couple if they had met) Angry Aussie gives us the lowdown on why this is a bad idea and why it won't work.

Sorry

As I explained yesterday, February 13 is now a momentous day for Australia. The Parliament of Australia stands united in apologising to our indigenous population. And now the hard work begins.

Other writers share their thoughts and sentiments on a day when a single word, sorry, changes the way we view our own nation (please let me know if you want to be included):

• Paull Young
• Katie Chatfield
• Trevor Cook
• John Heard
• Kevin Rennie
• The Witty Knitter
• Mountain Girl
• Values Australia
• Andrew Leigh
• Richard Watts
• Leah
• Therin of Andor
• ClarenceGirl
• FremantleBiz
• Kathryn Greenhill
• Meredi O
• Ben Peek
• Anthony Lowenstein
• Rodney Olsen
• Grods Corp
• Andrew Bartlett
• Justine Larbalestier
• Stephanie Trigg
• Another Outspoken Female

And, of course, there are others who use digital media to articulate what today's apology means for us all.

Missy Higgins

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The Difference A Word Makes

A year is a long time in politics! Just last year I wrote this post celebrating the 40th anniversary of a landmark in Australian history -- the recognition of the the citizenship rights of our indigenous people. Today I watched as the opening of Parliament under a new government placed the spotlight on indigenous culture -- with the traditional "welcome to country" performed in Canberra's Parliament House by local Aboriginals.

And tonight, the Australian people sit at the precipice of a change that I feared would never occur in my own lifetime ... our Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, will tomorrow read an apology. He will say the word "sorry" three times. This single word, "sorry", has been a contentious political issue here in Australia for years. But in refusing its utterance, in banning its debate, it has hung like an albatross around our necks -- each individual silently bearing the weight of history and apathy in equal measure.

I hope tomorrow's speech reignites the spirit of reconciliation that I joined in over twenty years ago. It is time to move forward -- to confront with open eyes and open arms, the opportunities before us as a nation. There will be challenges, no doubt. Disagreements, many. But in addressing them, one by one, step by step, we will surely build a better place for us all to live in.

The full text of the speech is as follows:

Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history. We reflect on their past mistreatment. We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were stolen generations -- this blemished chapter in our nation's history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future. We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians. We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country. For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry. And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation. For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians. A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again. A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity. A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed. A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility. A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

Tomorrow, some time after 9am I will live in a different country. Who knows what it will look like in another 12 months? But I look to that future with, as Shakespeare would say, "a glad eye".

Yes We Can ... And You Should

It is voting day in the US. The opportunities provided by democracy is often taken for granted by citizens -- I myself have woken many times on voting days, thinking that I "can't be bothered" going to vote. I couldn't be bothered fighting the pamphleteers. My apathy was overwhelming. My disillusion with the choices on offer, profound and unsettling. I just wondered how much the fine would be (voting is compulsory in Australia).

Yet for those without the luxuries and protections provided by democracy, voting is seen as a far off, utopian dream. It is something to aspire to. It heralds not apathy, but action. Potential. To all my American readers who are thinking of not voting, please reconsider. Your right to vote was hard won. Your choices affect many lives -- within and outside of the borders of your nation. It is a choice that contains mighty power. Regardless of who you vote for or which party you follow, please vote. It's in all our interests.

Now, if only we were possessed of speech makers with a vision here in this country. Seems I am not alone in this lament ;)