A huge step up in Australian censorship. By John Humphreys.

Australia already has “hate speech” laws, but those are civil laws, where there needs to be a specific complaint and the punishment is a forced apology and/or a fine. This is the famous 18c that Abbott promised to remove but then failed.

The proposed new laws will make it a criminal offence to incite hatred or share ideas of hatred against people from another nation or race, with a penalty of up to five years in jail.

This law applies even if nobody has made a complaint, and irrespective of whether the speech actually caused hate or fear.

This is a dangerous escalation in the war against free speech. Our political and legal class take an expansive and slanted view on what constitutes “hate”, and these laws will make debates about immigration dangerous and some political opinions illegal.