GetUp! a thought police bully in same-sex debate

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If the No side of the same-sex marriage debate mounted a hateful, personal attack on the career and livelihood of an individual who spoke out against its views, the condemnations would be deafening. And rightly so. In singling out Sydney general practitioner Pansy Lai in an online petition demanding an investigation into her registration, GetUp!, a leading advocate for a Yes vote in the upcoming plebiscite, has revealed its true nature.

Far from wanting to “bring participation back into our democracy’’ as it pretends, GetUp! is so intolerant of those with opposing views that it wants to bully them into silence.

As Dennis Shanahan reports today, almost 6000 signatories to the GetUp! petition against Dr Lai, who spoke out publicly as a mother in an anti-same-sex marriage advertisement, call on the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and the Australian Medical Association to review her registration.

The persecution by GetUp! raises an important question about what protections are available to people in the same situation as Dr Lai.

Like political dictators, the controllers of GetUp! evidently believe that doctors who disagree with them are not entitled to practise medicine. Bill Shorten, who was head of the Australian Workers Union when it donated at least $100,000 to GetUp! when it was set up, should dissociate himself from the organisation.

Aside from this and other vicious verbal attacks on Dr Lai and her co-workers, Australians should also be alarmed by the decision of Free TV Australia, representing the free-to-air commercial networks, to suppress an ad celebrating Father’s Day by the not-for-profit group Dads4Kids. On Saturday, Joe Kelly reported that Free TV objected to the ad, in light of the same-sex marriage plebiscite, on the grounds it probably “contained political matter”.

The ad showed a young dad singing a lullaby to his baby. Such absurd self-censorship is a dangerous sign of how rampant political correctness is stifling Australians’ free speech. To his credit, one of those who slammed the Free TV decision as “ridiculous advice that should be ignored” was Victorian Liberal MP Tim Wilson, a prominent advocate for the Yes’ case.

Three weeks ago, Paul Kelly listed numerous problems — legal, social and commercial — to have beset overseas nations that have rejected the traditional understanding of marriage. The Turnbull government must detail how it would protect freedom of religion in the event of a change to the Marriage Act. From the GetUp! and Dads4Kids incidents, it is clear it must also strengthen freedom of speech laws. Australians should not have to face a situation similar to that in Ontario, Canada, where opponents of a new bill fear its vague wording could be used by activists to push for the removal of children whose parents reject their claims to be transgender. The tone of the debate about the possible amendment of the Marriage Act leaves much to be desired, but it has raised important issues about the rights of individuals to say what they believe.

GetUp - Get lost!

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