Update 9am, Wednesday October 5:
The statement was published in The Australian nationwide today.
(Click here to see the statement in its entirety.)
We received overwhelming support, which demonstrates just how many people are concerned about the state of freedom of speech in Australia. 1261 people donated to support the statement, and we raised over $105,000. 602 people wanted to put their name to it.
The Andrew Bolt case has come at a dangerous time. It comes in the wake of Greens leader Bob Brown calling for licensing of journalists, and the government’s media inquiry.
Free people and a healthy democracy requires freedom of speech.
With your support the IPA will be a strong voice to defend freedom of speech. Over 500 people turned up in June for the IPA’s freedom of speech forum with Andrew Bolt. We will soon be publishing an important book outlining the many current threats to freedom of speech, and you can read our work on freedom of speech here.
If you’d like a hard copy of today’s Australian please contact Rachel at the IPA office – rleigh@ipa.org.au or 03 9600 4744.
Thank you for your support,
John Roskam
Institute of Public Affairs
Freedom of speech is fundamental to a free society.
Today in the Federal Court freedom of speech was found less important than the right to not be offended.
This case demonstrates the new hostility to freedom of speech in Australia. All Australians should be worried by what’s happening.
Australians who support free speech must stand up against these threats to our freedoms.
That’s why the IPA, with your support, will publish a major statement in The Australian against the laws that allowed this to happen. We need to show Australians that we will not stand idly by whilst fundamental freedoms are trampled on. (See a draft of the statement here.)
Your contribution is essential to help make this happen. We can’t afford to do this alone.
(Contributions to support the publication of this statement are not tax deductible.) If we raise more money than we need to fund the publication of the statement we’ll devote every cent to the IPA’s work defending freedom of speech.
And if you donate more than $40, we’ll even include your name on the statement. Update 3pm, Friday 30 September: Due to an overwhelming response, we are no longer able to take more names to be published on this statement. However, we still need your support to fight for freedom of speech – all money donated will go towards the defence of freedom of speech in Australia.
Thank you for your support,
John Roskam
Institute of Public Affairs
