316usman/thematic2b huggingface dataset:
Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697634453472.pdf (Australia)
Name: Sharyn Sale Submission: The undeniable Murdoch media monopoly poses a threat to Australian democracy.

A disproportionately large amount of media outlets within Australia are operated under the Murdoch regime.

It is rudimentary knowledge that the restriction of anything to only one perspective will ultimately lead to bias.

To even attempt to dispute that is childish.


In Australian media, it manifests itself in the form of right-wing bias, evident within a worryingly large amount of non-independent news outlets.

Because of this abuse of power, right-wing ideologies are seemingly normalised in Australian media, while left-wing ideologies are questioned or even antagonised.

Furthermore, the Murdoch empire is arguably Australia's most disgusting global export.
Both US and UK politics have been affected, and continue to be threatened, by outlets such as Fox News, Sky News, and The Sun.

Murdoch media played a large role in the American Republican party's power, and the outcome of Brexit, demonstrating the continually growing threat it has on national and global democracies.

No one person or organisation should have this much influence over political outcomes.

This sort of unrestrictive, unabashed abuse of media power for political gain, is appalling.
To downplay or deny its existence is ignorant and only continues to prove this point.

The senate needs to support the establishing of a Murdoch Royal Commission for the sake of democracy.

As a teenager growing up in an environment where political polarisation is evident on every media platform I see, I never want to see the powerful and privileged take advantage of media in the way the Murdoch empire has ever again.
Future generations deserve to live in a world where critical thinking is normalised, and mainstream media is diverse and free from political bias.

It is in the best interest of the Australian people that the Australian Government take action to dismantle the Murdoch media monopoly, and put aside political gain to prioritise access to diverse, independent news.

Media diversity in AustraliaSubmission 686
Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697634462839.pdf (Australia)
Mr Ian Goodenough MHR Chairman 18c Inquiry Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights 18cinquiry@aph.gov.au 02 6277 3823 Parliamentary inquiry into freedom of speech Having only learned of this inquiry, I appreciate the closing date for submissions has closed.

However, I hope my few brief points may be admitted to the panel and considered.

Executive Summary I urge that the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 be amended and that S. 18c be revoked.
Reasons From my observations, it appears that S. 18c has become either by design or unintended consequence a mechanism whereby one group can stifle debate, public discussion, cartoons, jokes, articles and potentially academic writings and histories.

S. 18c has evolved into a power â€¦ the power to silence 'the other'.

The HRC appears to be a partisan player pushing an ideology in cases brought before it, rather than an impartial mediator.
A similar provision to S. 18c enacted in the Canadian Human Right Act 1968, S. 13(1) was repealed in 2013, because its unintended consequences violated free speech.

From the late 1950s well into the 1960s Melbourne Television station HSV 7 ran a Sunday afternoon program called Parliament of Youth, wherein two senior school teams of three speakers each debated a current affairs topic.
As a student in 1965, I represented my school as one of the three speakers; our topic was, "Is assimilation best for our Aboriginals?"

I suggest that that debate could not be held on TV today as someone would take 'offence', or the HRC would actively seek to bring a case Freedom of speech in AustraliaSubmission 239 against the TV station, the schools or even the debaters under S. 18c.
If that is so, or probable, or it means a school participating in such a debate would have to seek legal advice, it means our traditional freedoms to debate is curtailed.

In the 1960s HSV 7 also had a program Fighting Words hosted by Danny Webb wherein contentious current affairs issues were hotly debatedâ€¦ such debates would not happen today because of S. 18c.

No!

Q & A is not an equivalent debating forum.


If cartoonists like Bill Leak are subjected to an action under S. 18c for a drawing, a social commentary, then freedom of speech is under serious attack.

There were no cries of 'Je suis Bill Leak' from the HRC rather a campaign to encourage a complaint under S. 18c of the Act.

As a child growing up in Australia and now as a retired adult, I believe the famous Voltaire quote, "I disagree with what you say, but I'll defend unto death your right to say it."
S. 18c has rewritten Voltaire's dictum into "Don't say, write, joke, draw or think anything that I disagree with as I'll take offence and drag you before the HRC."

As the Roman Senator Cato the Elder (234â€“149BC) invoked the phrase at the end of his speeches 'Carthago delenda est' (Carthage must be destroyed), so do I finish with this invocation, 'S.

18c must be destroyed,' to allow freedom of speech, thought, drawings and debate to continue in Australia.
Antony O'Brien Freedom of speech in AustraliaSubmission 239
Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697634490083.pdf (Australia)
I write with concern that there is an attempt to reduce the capacity of our legal system to protect our right to be dealt with in a civil and polite manner.

Section 18C protects us all from forms of racial and cultural vilification.

It is a natural development for our society and provides a solid foundation being particularly effective in protecting minority groups.
Born in 1947 I am old enough to remember the vilification that many new arrivals to Australia endured, merely on the basis of their accent or their lack of competence in the English.

While some might argue that we need no such protection on the grounds that these post war arrivals survived, survival is not enough.

The traumatic nature of migration is widely documented and hate speech or name calling is known to have formed part of the trauma that the newly arrived migrants endured.
Particularly at the outset of post WWII migration, many were coming from situations of great social and economic dislocation, some even from genocidal contexts.

Anti-semetic sentiments were quite freely expressed in the society as the first Jewish refugees began arriving after the war.

Similar discriminatory sentiments were expressed towards Italians and Greeks in particular, in those early days.

Hate speech and vilification has also been directed towards Aboriginal Australians over the years.
They, of all Australians, have endured the greatest levels of racism and of discrimination.

We live in a dynamic era when minority groups are often scapegoated for wider problems in society.

The extensive persecution of Jews in Europe through the 19th and 20th centuries is a clear example of just where such hostility and discrimination, if unchecked by a legal safety net, can lead.
I urge you to support retention of the protections in our legal system so that Australia can continue to be the world's most successful democratic, tolerant and inclusive multicultural society.

Yours sincerely, -- Russell Darnley OAM Freedom of speech in AustraliaSubmission 258
Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697634499293.pdf (Australia)
Hi I have had a good look at the nearly 400 pages of the EBA.

I’ve looked at the Vic govt website, the cfa website and the ufu website, and read and heard lots of the political posturing about the issues.

It seems to me that maybe 4 lines of the 400 page EBA are bothering people, and I watch with despair the mountains that politicians are making out of the small differences, in order to score points against ‘their’ rivals.
Unfortunately at the same time destroying our volunteer commitment commitment in the process.

I have been a volunteer firefighter for over 40 years and have over 30 years with our Rural Fire Brigade, taking executive positions at times.

I attend almost all fires in our area – whenever I am called.

In 2014 I spent 3 days fighting local fire, driving the truck for over 14 hours non-stop overnight when needed.

Locally we do what we can to help.


All my life I have helped others, and in our regional community that is how we do it- we help.

Unfortunately the hate-filled invective of our politicians is now sounding like America and England, with concentration on personal insults and name-calling.

It is disgusting.

You are our elected REPRESENTATIVES, not our bosses.
And unfortunately now we see too many politicians who do NOT represent the commitment that country people make to each other and to their communities.

So I implore you to have a careful look at the EBA and the proposed ‘volunteer protection legislation’ and see how small changes reach through compromise can save the cost and inefficiency of always legislating- and the probability of unforeseen consequences as seems to happen with hasty legislation.
Personally I can see that the EBA requirement of potable water for practice/drill/training will not work – and anyway at fires in the country we use whatever water is available – but that won’t be affected by this proposed legislation anyway.

And I have a lot of questions about the levels of pay and the benefits that CFA staff have compared to volunteers – especially the total cost of emergency services, compared to the benefits and wages of continuous service like teachers and nurses.
But again that won’t be talked about here.

So please use the wise heads and negotiation skills that we elected you for.

Gil Gil Hopkins Fair Work Amendment (Respect for Emergency Services Volunteers) Bill 2016 [provisions]Submission 220
Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697634513207.pdf (Australia)
The bill has three stated objectives The objects of this Act are: (a) to remove from the Marriage Act 1961 discrimination against people on the basis of their sex, sexuality or gender identity; and (b) to recognise that freedom of sexuality and gender identity are fundamental human rights; and (c) to promote acceptance and the celebration of diversity.

It is important not to discriminate against people, but how do we achieve this?
Is it sameness in everything?

Should we call all groups of people who live together for more than a certain period of time married?

Else are we not discriminating against defacto relationships?

How does sameness in title promote point (c) to promote acceptance and the celebration of diversity if the only way to achieve that is to have identicalness?

It does not make sense.

Is it discrimination to call a man a man or a woman a woman?
No we recognise and celebrate the difference – equality is not in a title.

A marriage is an agreement between a man and a women, not between a man and a man or a woman and a woman.

We managed to come up with a different title for legal identification for a man and woman who live together for a period of time.

Why can we not do so for those in a homosexual relationship?

It is important to understand what discrimination is and what it isn’t.
Where a distinction is made in favour or against someone based on their group, class or category, that is discrimination.

Calling different groups different things is not discrimination.

The fact that I am no longer a teenager and therefore can’t call myself a teenager does not mean that an age title is discrimination, what is discrimination is how I am treated according to my age.

Therefore let’s focus on discrimination not on name calling.
The stated objectives of this bill change cant be met by calling what is not marriage marriage.

Discrimination is not the name we call something but how that group is treated, thus objective A is not met.

Objective B also is not met by giving the same identification tag in fact objective B is not a valid objective in Australian society.

It is illegal to undertake many forms of sexuality by law for instance paedophilia .
And object C is plainly in contradiction of itself by calling different things by the same name.

I am objection to the changes proposed by the bill.
Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697634608691.pdf (Australia)
Dear committee secretary, I am highly concerned about the threat of plastic pollution on our marine environment and eco-systems because I am aware of how much one use plastic we are disposing in the oceans of our only planet.

We have become so lazy over the past few decades that we are disregarding the wastes that we are producing in terms of plastic pollution.

The world needs to come to realize the damage we are doing very soon or else we will have destroyed our oceans to an irreversible stage.
Our fish are dying.

Scientists have seen a dramatic decline in fish population over the last few decades which suggests that we are not doing a very good job of preserving our planet.

The Great Barrier Reef has already become the ‘Great Barrier Dumping Ground’ and scientists estimate that we are losing between 200 to 2 000 species of fish and marine life every year.

This must stop!

Please consider our ocean and marine life and take action against the threat of plastic pollution on our environment.
Regards, Taylor Springett Threat of marine plastic pollution in AustraliaSubmission 115
Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697634626625.pdf (Australia)
Submission by the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) to National Inquiry: The age verification for online wagering and online pornography.

Children do best when their parents are well supported and all adults in the community understand their role in keeping children safe.

● NAPCAN commends the inquiry on its concern for the online safety of Australian children and urges that the inquiry prioritises the wellbeing of children and families.
● This is an area of concern for many parents who feel overwhelmed by the online safety of their children.

● Parents need support to protect their children from viewing pornography; this includes technical supports as well as high quality information.
● NAPCAN supports that the implementation of any new regulation be accompanied by a range of supports for families including education campaigns (such as Start the Chat), online and print materials for parents as well as children and young people (such as those provided by the eSafety Commission), and education for children and young people about their right to safety and how to seek help.

Inquiry into age verification for online wagering and online pornographySubmission 167
Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697634629039.pdf (Australia)
Dear Sir/Madam.

I am writing in relation to the Inquiry into Students with a Disability.

While I am currently not a student, I have been through the education system with some difficulty.

I am now 43 years old and I have what is called Neurofibromatosis, (NF1).

This was never picked up in all the years at school from 1964-1972.

I had trouble understanding things and also had Dyslexia.

Most teachers saw it as a lazy student,and by doing so I was always in the lowest class at school.
In the earlier days myself and our family never knew too much about NF and therefore could not really work out what was wrong.

I thought it just me and did not have any idea that it was related to NF.

With the NF came allot of name calling, making fun, which also made it hard to study.

I did overcome this area, but it took many frustrating years, without any help from the educational system.

Many doctors do not understand NF and many are not willing to learn.

Call it an unknown fear.


I hope with this letter in helping others not to go through their years as a student with out some kind of help.

A person with NF is not dumb, but needs a little extra help to see them through.

They need that extra encouragement to know they can do it.

I am free to speak more on this, you can contact me on 9476-5545 (Home) or 9805-0625 (Work) I work as a Community Educator, Level 3, for the Spastic Centre of NSW.
To find out more about N, go to www.nf.org Our association contact number in NSW is 9874-0844 Kind Regards Bradley Dowling
Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697634648925.pdf (Australia)
SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT Output 2.2 Question No.

47 Senator Ludwig asked the following question at the hearing on 13 February 2007: With regards to the ALRC's Recommendations in the 'Fighting Words and Review of Sedition Laws in Australia' report which was tabled on September the 13th last year: a) Has the Department undertaken any work connected to this report?
b) If the Department has undertaken work: i) What sort of work has been undertaken by the Department?

ii) Does it include any drafting or any legislative work?

iii) If it includes drafting, when did the drafting commence?

iv) When can we expect to see something before Parliament?

v) If it does not include drafting, why not?


The answer to the honourable senator’s question is as follows: a) The Department has provided preliminary advice to the Government regarding the scope of the recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) report and options to address the recommendations.

The Government is continuing to carefully consider the recommendations of the ALRC’s report.
b) The Department has not undertaken any drafting work or progressed any amendments in response to the recommendations of the ALRC report.

The possible implementation of the ALRC report and the timing of a formal response to the report is a matter for the Government.
Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697634677540.pdf (Australia)
Dear Committee Secretary, I am very concerned with the threat for the oceans because I don't want to see them turn into a plastic soup like other oceans in the world.

The marine animals and their habitat need to be protected.

I am worried about the effects of plastic getting into the food chain.Who wants to eat seafood which contains plastic the marine animals have eaten?

Plastic is made from fossil fuels which is very unsustainable.
My friends and I are part of the school's Environment group and at the start of this year we did a Beach Clean Up.

We were planning to clean up about 5 beaches and we only got to clean up 2 beaches because there was so much rubbish!

I am only 13 and i want to make sure that during my lifetime the sea turtles, the sea birds and all the other marine life that i like so much will not disappear.

I also hope that the sea will not end up becoming a worse plastic soup than it is already.
When my great grandma was alive the beaches were pristine there were millions of sea turtles and all the fish and sea birds were healthy.

Plastics have destroyed our oceans.

Gabrielle King Threat of marine plastic pollution in AustraliaSubmission 157
Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697634691446.pdf (Australia)
Threat of marine plastic pollution in AustraliaSubmission 2 Threat of marine plastic pollution in AustraliaSubmission 2 Threat of marine plastic pollution in AustraliaSubmission 2
Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697634745309.pdf (Australia)
Dear Secretary, The threat that plastic pollution plays in degrading our marine ecosystems is a serious concern for Australia.

We urgently need effective action to address this issue, so I trust that such action will be the outcome of this enquiry.

The threat of marine plastic pollution in Australia and Australian waters I have observed the amount of plastic waste which gets washed up, blown to or directly dumped into marine ecosystems in SE Qld.
Not only is this aesthetically offensive, it poses very real threats to the lives of many marine creatures.

Much of our recreational and tourism activities revolve around our waterways and coastal areas.

Persistent plastic pollution detracts from this, and indicates the lack of will on the part of policy makers to address this obvious problem.
The products and materials that represent the major sources of marine plastic pollution I’ve found plastic pollution of all types, but plastic bags of all types are extremely common.

Plastic drinking containers (bottles, lids, etc) are also common, as are discarded bait bags.
The impacts of marine plastic pollution, including impacts on species and ecosystems, fisheries, small business, and human health Ingestion of plastic bags is a major problem for many marine creatures, as is entanglement in plastic waste.

Both can lead to slow, distressing and painful deaths.

Some of our most loved and often endangered species, such as whales and turtles, are dying horrible deaths due to swallowing plastic.
The Solutions The liberal and habitual handing out of single use plastic bags in the marketplace (supermarkets, etc) needs to be curtailed, if not eliminated.

I’ve proven myself that it isn’t hard to greatly reduce the number of plastic bags acquired in purchasing.

Simply bringing my own reusable bags has cut my need for plastic bags to a minimum.
In order to encourage consumers to BYO bags, a charge on plastic bags, or better still, eliminating them from shops, and offering the purchase of reusable and biodegradable bags, eg hessian / hemp, is an obvious solution.

ALDI stores are to be commended for not using the single-use plastic bags at their checkouts.

It is shameful that the two other major supermarkets have failed to implement an effective policy in this area.
Adopting a Container Deposit Scheme is long overdue to reduce the discarding of plastic and glass) bottles into the environment.

This needs to be seriously considered if the government hopes to deal with the problem.

Threat of marine plastic pollution in AustraliaSubmission 90 In conclusion: We can debate the problem indefinitely while our marine ecosystems continue to choke up with plastic debris and our precious marine life suffers.
Alternately, we can implement some of these simple policies and practices and very quickly clean up our act.

With our growing population, and ever increasing urbanisation along our coastlines and waterways, the need to act decisively is imperative.

Yours sincerely, Janenne Kornfeld Threat of marine plastic pollution in AustraliaSubmission 90
Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697634779214.pdf (Australia)
Hello, Considering the existential threat of climate change and the associated ecological catastrophes I urge you to do everything possible to minimise future emissions and focus on processes and developments in line with sustainability.

It does not make sense to open more coal mines and gas fields, rather we need to work towards closing the ones we have.

The catastrophic weather events we have been seeing worldwide are expensive in human and monetary terms.
Even with the best behaviour regarding emissions and all efforts directed towards green energy transition from today, the world temperature will go up.

We must do everything we can to keep this increase as low as possible.

In my mind it is worth giving up some of our current wealth and lifestyle to secure a habitable planet in the future.

One with people on it … Kind regards, Claudia Koller Climate Change Bill 2022 and the Climate Change (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2022Submission 129