Freedom of Speech

Freedom of speech protects our ability to criticise governments, challenge accepted ideas, debate controversial issues and speak our minds without asking permission from those in power.

Yet Western Australians have no explicit constitutional right to freedom of speech.

The Libertarian Party believes that fundamental freedoms should not depend on the goodwill of whichever government happens to hold office. We want to place freedom of speech beyond the reach of ordinary politics by enshrining it in the Constitution of Western Australia.

Our First Act

The first legislation introduced by Libertarians elected to the Western Australian Parliament will be a Bill to constitutionally protect freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, peaceful assembly and the right to petition government.

We will adopt the wording of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, changing only “Congress” to “Parliament”:

“Parliament shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

We will seek to entrench this protection so that it cannot simply be removed by a future Parliament through ordinary legislation.

Why the First Amendment?

We do not believe politicians should be trusted to continually redefine what constitutes acceptable speech.

Rather than inventing a new right filled with qualifications, exceptions and political loopholes, Western Australia should adopt clear constitutional language that has stood the test of time.

Adopting the wording of the First Amendment would not bind Western Australian courts to decisions of the United States Supreme Court. Australian courts would remain responsible for interpreting and applying our own Constitution.

But it would give our courts more than two centuries of American jurisprudence to draw upon when considering what these freedoms mean and where their boundaries lie.

That includes landmark cases such as Brandenburg v Ohio, which established strong protections for political advocacy while allowing governments to prohibit incitement directed toward producing imminent unlawful action and likely to produce it.

It also includes Texas v Johnson, where the United States Supreme Court protected the burning of the American flag as political expression. The principle was simple: government cannot prohibit political expression merely because people find it deeply offensive.

These cases demonstrate that strong constitutional protection of speech does not mean abandoning the rule of law. It means drawing a clear distinction between expression and unlawful conduct, and placing the burden on government to justify restrictions on fundamental liberties.

The Libertarian Party WA will:

1. Introduce constitutional protection for freedom of speech as our first legislative priority.
   Introduce legislation to insert the wording of the First Amendment into the Constitution of Western Australia, substituting “Parliament” for “Congress”.
2. Entrench these freedoms against ordinary political interference.
   Ensure the constitutional protection cannot simply be repealed or weakened by a future Parliament through ordinary legislation.
3. Protect more than political speech.
   Constitutionally protect freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, peaceful assembly and the right to petition government.
4. Give Western Australian courts a tested body of jurisprudence to draw upon.
   While American court decisions would not bind Australian courts, adopting established constitutional language would allow our courts to consider more than two centuries of First Amendment jurisprudence when interpreting these freedoms.

Freedom of speech should not depend upon whether the government agrees with you.