For those who believe we enjoy free speech in Australia, please read on.

We do not. And section 18c of the Human Rights legislation has very little to do with the demise of free speech in Australia.

SHAFT HIM

A hell of a lot of energy was expended on that side-street (Liberal Party Leftists used Abbott’s “failure” to abolish 18c to shaft him).

The death of free speech lies elsewhere. And it lies, as so many historic events do, at the confluence of a number of critical events or developments.

Which is the prime mover? Take your pick:

• The victory of woke;
• The corporatisation of society, government, industry and education sectors;
• The ascendancy of reputation management and narrative control as drivers of behaviour in public-facing institutions;
• The Left’s deep understanding of how the world works, its diligence in tracking down enemies and its ruthlessness in destroying its prey;
• The emergence of fact checking as a profession;
• The power of all-seeing technology;
• The willingness of corporates – broadly defined – to exhibit endlessly their cravenness;
• The dependence of institutions on “funding” and their willingness to sacrifice their free-speaking employees – the very few who actually speak their minds publicly on issues that might cause their employers grief;
• The related realisation by employees and many independent contractors that they are now part of a “precariat”, where the loss of the current job or contract may mean career destruction;
• The ultimate loyalty of any corporate institution is to its future viability as it perceives it, hence its willingness to throw its employees under the bus.

It is a confluence thing. And a complex story. It is a case of all these emergent societal trends coming together at the same time. It’s a perfect storm.

SIDELINING

The result? The utter sidelining of free speech, especially for employees of organisations capable of being ideologically blackmailed by the journeyman junior journalists at The Guardian or The Age newspapers.

The process is familiar. Employee says something controversial, say, about immigration.

It gets reported by a Leftist teenaged journo and the perp gets accused of being a “far Right” racist.

The employing organisation freaks: “Reputation damage! Existential threat! Government funding!”

The solution? Sack the employee. Reputation saved. But – reputation also destroyed.

In short, no-one can afford to exercise his “right” to free speech these days unless he can afford not to care. Where the issue is not putting food on the family table.

It all puts 18c in the shade.

What if you put your head and your words above the parapet? Well, there is Toby Young’s Free Speech Union. Which now has a branch in Australia.

It is a great initiative, but it will not be for everyone. Even if you have someone in your corner, you may not wish to enter the (legal) process which turns out, always, to be the punishment.

Who are the big criminals in this emerging dictatorship? I don’t blame the progressives, Leftists and assorted communists. This is their life. Their enfeebled, pathetic life of the eternally bored fact checker class.