-And even more specific to this incident with Annika Smethurst's report, the Covenant says "The free communication of information and ideas about public and political issues between citizens, candidates and elected representatives is essential. This implies a free press and other media able to comment on public issues and to inform public opinion without censorship or restraint." This paragraph goes deeper into the issue and describes exactly what the government is _not_ allowing in terms of communication: "a free press"... "to inform public opinion _withou_ censorship or restraint". I think it's quite clear at this point that the recent incident was definitely a violation of these rights, and I think that's a shameful action for the Federal Police and for the Australian Government.
+Despite living in a democracy, the government still has an immense amount of power. Some of the decisions they make have the potential to affect everyone so broadly, so how can it possibly be right to hide it from the public? Part of the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights covers this issue, stating that “every individual should have the right to ascertain in an intelligible form, whether, and if so, what personal data is stored in automatic data files, and for what purposes”. This makes it crystal clear that the government should *not* be hiding their surveillance plans from us, even if it is to strengthen national security. In fact, Australia has more strict national security laws than any other liberal democratic nation, according to experienced journalist Misha Ketchell. Further, Australia is the only liberal democracy which doesn’t have a charter of human rights - so media independence is virtually impossible to enforce officially at the moment.
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+And even more specific to this incident with Annika Smethurst’s report, the Covenant says “The free communication of information and ideas about public and political issues between citizens, candidates and elected representatives is essential. This implies a free press and other media able to comment on public issues and to inform public opinion without censorship or restraint.” This paragraph goes deeper into the issue and describes exactly what the government is *not* allowing in terms of communication: “a free press”… “to inform public opinion *without* censorship or restraint”. I think it’s quite clear at this point that the recent incident was definitely a violation of these rights, and I think that’s a shameful action for the Federal Police and for the Australian Government.
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+After these events, Scott Morrison said he was “not troubled” by the raids, but “believed in the freedom of the press”. How can anyone who believes in media freedom be *not troubled* by this? It’s a hideous deception, and I encourage everyone, regardless of their background, to carefully and objectively observe the way that this cowardly attitude towards the media is sneaking up on us as a society, and consider the importance of media independence for a sound and productive society. Thank you.