Speech Matters: Freedom of speech in Australian political culture

Freedom of speech is a vital democratic freedom and one that most Australians take for granted, believing that freedom of speech is important and that it exists. Yet when you scratch the surface, this broad consensus on freedom of speech fractures, demonstrating that Australians are not as comfortable with it as they profess to be. In this paper I investigate this hypothesis by focussing firstly on the reasons for protecting freedom of speech, outlining a framework that both provides a robust protection for free speech and permits (and directs us to where it might be viable to implement) some regulation of speech. I then consider two examples – the use of the national flag and classification of terrorist-related materials – to demonstrate a willingness to override this vital human right. Despite Australians’ professed support for free speech, we are remarkably tolerant of activities that curtail it, even (and possibly especially) where that curtailment is illegitimate and wrong