Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Practise what you preach, Member for Wannon. It's probably because he's got a PhD in political spin that he's so good at it.

To make things worse, academics, scientists and artists are exempt from the bill, but not everyday Australians. So anything an academic or scientist says cannot be censored, but the legitimately held view or opinion of an Australian on that same topic can be censored, which really brings into question who determines who is an academic and who is a scientist. What are the requirements to determine whether you meet those criteria?

An honourable member: Dr Chalmers!

Dr Chalmers—well, yes. And this is a very confusing part and a very concerning part of this bill. The Minister for Communications could personally order misinformation investigations and hearings on terms of her choosing. The minister can also exempt certain platforms, so a digital site that has politics favoured by a government could be excluded from complying with these laws.

But let's use another real-life example of misinformation and disinformation, and how this could play out based on, again, the government's own words. When the now Minister for Home Affairs was the minister for industrial relations, there was quite a lot of legislation that they rammed through this House. There was a lot that was disagreed with by those in the industry, and the minister stood at that dispatch box in question time and labelled that information misinformation and disinformation. The minister stood there and said the arguments used against his own legislation were misinformation and disinformation. Under this legislation, if the minister for industrial relations made that accusation, the Minister for Communications within his own government could personally order a misinformation investigation and hearing because Master Builders Australia and other industry bodies, the Minerals Council of Australia, the BCA and others dared to question the all-powerful minister for industrial relations.

That's the reality of what we're dealing with. That situation could play out because the minister was prepared to use the terms 'misinformation' and 'disinformation' at that dispatch box multiple times in question time when those pieces of legislation were being discussed. Those terms were used at the same time they were looking to ram through the legislation the first time. That is an egregious breach of democracy. Every government should be held to account. Industry bodies have the right to argue their case, but under this government, under this bill, that would be in question—and that's one case study that is a live example.

From public health to politics, the economy and ideology, this bill will impact what Australians are allowed to talk about online. It will limit public discourse and debate and it will diminish democracy. Look out, Australia. First, Labor sent your cost of living through the roof and broke their promises, and now they're trying to limit what you can say about it online. The coalition stands firmly opposed to Labor's misinformation bill because we believe in free speech and always defend that right. In the words of Voltaire, 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.'

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