SemiArticulate

Random Musings
November 9th, 2012

Royal Commission into Child Abuse

Following an interview with a senior police officer on ABCs Lateline last night, admissions of pack rapes of children there have been growing calls for a royal commission into the systemic cover ups of child abuses in the Catholic Church.

Up until now, Barry O’Farrell (Premier of NSW) have resisted those claims. Today he announced a Special Commission of Inquiry into the matter, which has rather narrow terms of reference.

I would argue  that this organisation, if found to be systematically covering up child abuse, be designated a criminal organisation, have all state subsidies removed (tax breaks etc).

In related matter the Australian Christian Lobby (or ACL, funded in part by the Catholic Church) has called for a mandatory internet filter to hide child abuse material, porn, and other things they don’t like from everyone on the internet.

November 9th, 2012

Mandatory Internet Filter is dead! Long live the mandatory internet filter!

The minister for DBCDE (pronounced debacle) has announced that the plans to impose a mandatory internet censorship is dead.

The only problem is that we are all still getting the mandatory filter. Just not via legislation (which would be impossible to get through the current parliment).

The ACL is NOT HAPPY.

In other reportage the minister is planning to use s313 of the telecommunications act to impose a blacklist of the INTERPOL child abuse websites.  For those not paying too much attention, this means that the infrastructure to “improve” the scope (say at the request of some pressure groups like *ahem* the ACL) is now already in place.

As this is a danger going into the future (but I predict not this electoral cycle or the next), we will need to be vigilant.