I refer to David's memory of the Vietnam war, he states that the protestors were not charged with sedition, for wanting the troops to lose.
Howard,s sedition policies were not law then [60s&70s] duh!.
I was a protestor, and if David had been on the ground, he would have known that the people did not want our young Australians in Vietnam, supporting an American agressor and invader. The people wanted them to be safe at home. Also David would be aware that a lottery system was in place for the compulsory selection of candidates to be sent to Vietnam.
I am pleased that the US was defeated and that they were sent packing with their tails between their legs. I hope the same happens in Iraq and Aphganistan. There is no justification for mudering innocent people, no matter who is the invader of a legitimate State.
David is just like any other conserative, who think they have a god given right, to be the devil when it suits them. Liberal minded people are disgusted with this hypocritical stance.
Left, right and centre are all about marching to someone else's band tune, all sociopathic power structures, eventually fail, and i cannot wait for this to happen to the current regime in Canberra.

Sarah10, I also mentioned Treason laws, which were in place then. If you had read the link I provided (which was not written by me, since I was not born in the Vietnam era), you would have seen these words:

"The government didn't dare use charges of Treason or Treachery so introduced a "Defence Force Protection Act" specifically targetting us, with a penalty of only 2 years gaol which could be imposed by a magistrate."

"In fact that was never used."

In fact, if you had read the link, you would see that the site I am promoting is not conservative, but advocates revolution, and is very pleased that the Vietnamese won their own independence from the USA.

The point I actually made was that some protestors at that time were doing things that fell within the _exact boundaries_ of treason laws as they stood at the time.

Yet they were _not charged_.

Which goes to show why the depressing pessimism of the author should be rejected. Instead of moaning about how little free speech we have, instead of waiting for the government to hand it to us, we need to take it.

Free speech is up to the people, not up to some Bill of Rights presented to us by our 'generous' rulers.

In relation to the Vietnam War I think there were few people who wished to see the US and allies defeated. The war was fought on the basis of the now discredited domino theory; another example of poor intelligence or intelligence being used in a political manner.

Theoretically we are in the Middle East at present to help create democracy in Iraq; instead we have created a situation where it has been stated that civil war is about to occur. Iraq has not been able to create the infra structure to maintain a peaceful nation.
Australia has been at the opposite end of the continuum with a proud history of human rights; however, from having a proud history Australia is slipping towards the poor side of the continuum. Mean legislation such as “Work Choices”; sedition laws; and now about to be legislated for, an anti indigenous law. It has been stated that “Under the guise of promoting economic development for indigenous Australians, the Federal Government wants to ram through new legislation this Tuesday that actually jeopardises future generations of Aboriginal livelihoods. It's quite possibly the most important law you've never heard of.” (GetUp)

The new communication legislation is being sold on the basis of allowing technology to be created in a deregulated environment to benefit the consumer; previous legislation has favoured big business; how can we believe that the communication legislation would be any different. This would create the situation where media empires will be able to exert more pressure on public opinion than it already does.

In relation to the Israel/Lebanon situation we could reasonably expect some moral leadership from the Coalition Government; instead we have complete silence.
It is in the last ten years that we have heard that torture is morally permissible under some circumstances; and pre-emptive strikes are permissible. Malaysia and Indonesia have made it clear that they are unhappy with the concept of pre-emptive strikes and the Howard Government has had to pull it’s head in.

Thank you George, for bringing the issue of tightening restrictions on freedom to our attention again.

Dear Websters,

Not all religious psychos are Muslim. Indeed, some are people just like you. From today's 'Australian' comes the following report:

Mr Hagee [Reverend John Hagee, a Pentecostal television evangelist from Texas], called the Israeli attacks on Lebanon a "miracle of God" and suggested that a ceasefire would violate "God's foreign policy statement" towards Jews. The evangelist is a leading figure in the so-called Christian-Zionist movement, rooted in a literal interpretation of the Book of Revelations, which predicts a final battle between good and evil in Israel, where two billion people will die before Christ's return ushers in a 1000-year period of grace.

"The end of the world as we know it is rapidly approaching ... Rejoice and be exceeding glad - the best is yet to be," Mr Hagee has written in a book that has sold 700,000 copies.

President George W. Bush sent a message to the gathering praising Mr Hagee and his supporters for "spreading the hope of God's love and the universal gift of freedom".

Dear ANT

'In relation to the Israel/Lebanon situation we could reasonably expect some moral leadership from the Coalition Government instead we have complete silence.'

I am in agreement however you must give Howard some credit. He is the first Australian PM to speak in favour of a Palenstinian state.

One other point you seem to have overlooked. The Canberra Opposition has been so quiet over this outrage also. Why hasn't it taken the Government to task. Why has Kevin Rudd suddenly become 'media shy' on this burning issue? I've seen not one pronouncement from the normally 'media tart' Kevin. Why not?

One can suppose he and Labor hope they are 'Seen But Not Heard' on this issue. Eh

Keith the opposition is doing what it did before the last election - roll up into a tight little ball and hope no-one sees its underbelly. The problem with taking an even-handed stance is the same here as elsewhere - disagree with Israel and you're an anti-semite regardless of the validity of your argument.