David Leyonhjelm (NSW, Liberal Democratic Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The attitude of a lot of Australians towards freedom these days reminds me of the old tale of boiling a frog. The story goes that if you put a frog in a pot of boiling water it jumps out. But if you put it in the a pot of cold water and then slowly heat it, the frog doesn't notice the gradual increase in temperature and so it eventually boils alive. If 50 years ago, Australia had experienced a communist or fascist coup, which took away all our freedom at once, the average Australian would probably have taken to the streets to resist. But that didn't happen. Instead, our freedom has been quietly whittled away over decades and the average person doesn't seem to have noticed.

At the most minor end of the scale there is loss of the little things that help make life fun. For example, as kids we used to enjoy letting off fireworks on Guy Fawkes night. If we wanted to get some exercise, we used to be able to jump on a bicycle and go for a ride. Today, we can't do that unless we have a helmet. When I was a young man, I used to see school cadets travelling on buses and trams carrying their 303s and no-one batted an eye but, today, carrying a 303 on a bus would bring out the SWAT team.

Today we're told that we can't look after ourselves so socialised medicine is provided for all, not just the poor. A compulsory Medicare levy, which rises not with health risk but with income is also imposed on everyone, but it doesn't cover the costs so we also pay through our taxes. Fifty years ago, the roads were narrow, there were few dual carriage ways, and cars had drum brakes, crossply tyres and vague steering yet there was no speed limit on many open roads. Today, we have much safer roads, dual carriageways, ABS disc brakes, radial tyres, traction control and sophisticated suspension and steering, yet there are no areas without a speed limit and most areas are stuck at a maximum of 100km/h. People used to be free to say what they thought, even if some were offended, but now this is outlawed; the thoughts remain but they are buried away.

Under the guise of national security, we have growing encroachment on the media with prohibitions on the reporting of matters in the public interest. And of course, in its own little bit of Stalinism, the previous Labor government even tried to sensor the internet and gag the print media. Property rights are no longer sacrosanct with state and federal governments both taking greater and greater liberties with what we have worked and paid for. It's gone well beyond cutting down a few trees and now includes interfering with private rental and lease arrangements, such as being an Airbnb host.

The idea that we relinquish only a limited amount of our liberty in order to create a government that protects our lives, liberty and property has been lost. Our governments now believe they are our masters and we are their subjects. It is only when we look back that we realise how many restrictions on our liberty, from the petty to the great, have been foisted on us by stealth. It is time to wake up to what's ruining us as a nation and to tell all the nanny state control freaks, busy bodies and do-gooders where they can shove it. It is time to jump out of the pot before it's too late, because, let me tell you, the water is close to boiling.