NET FILTERING: 83% wouldn't vote Labor at next election

Dan Warne
22 February 2010, 4:02 PM


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Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) today welcomed survey results showing Australian Internet users might not vote Labor again at the next election due to Internet filtering.


The preliminary results of the Australian Broadband Survey 2009, conducted by Whirlpool, found that 91.8% respondents did not support the idea of mandatory Internet filtering.

The survey also found 83.4% of respondents said that the introduction of mandatory Internet filtering might affect their vote at the next Federal election.

"The results highlight widespread community disagreement with the Government's plan," said Peter Black, EFA's campaign manager. "These results also show that Australians believe the Government would be better off focusing on increased education and law enforcement, instead of an impractical and costly policy of Government censorship."

When asked what the Government should focus on in terms of internet safety, 81.8% supported educating parents, 63.9% said educating children, 43.7% said law enforcement, 42.1% said subsidising desktop filter software, and 33.5% said subsidising ISP-level opt-in filters, with only 3.2% supporting mandatory Internet filtering.

These preliminary results from the Australian Broadband Survey 2009 only include respondents aged 18 years of age or older. The survey was successfully completed and verified 21,775 times by respondents aged 18 years of age or older. The full results of the Survey are expected to be published soon.

"These results confirm that people who understand the issue overwhelming oppose the Government's policy," Black said. "The big challenge now is to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Australians, who perhaps aren't particularly computer or Internet savvy."

That is why last week EFA launched the Open Internet campaign, centred around a new website, OpenInternet.com.au, blog, and Facebook fan page, that together will act as campaign hub for all the different individuals and organisations that are campaigning against the Governmentbs mandatory Internet filtering policy.

The Open Internet campaign marks an escalation of opposition to the Government's policy, which will continue throughout the year. "Our goal is to ensure the Australian public know what they're in for," said Black. "It's important that such a major and expensive policy gets the public scrutiny it deserves. And we believe that Open Internet portrays a positive and understandable message that will resonate with Australians who are yet to form a strong opinion on the Government's policy."


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Raindog (User):

Conroy's inept attempts to stifle communications and to censor everything wont swing government, neither will his "finished the same year as Sydney transit upgrades, vapourware NBN.
Like the frog in the slowly heated saucepan, Australian voters remain as apathetic and media led as always.

But combine Conroy's almost daily blunders, with the Minister for Cold Cold Change's efforts to burn down peoples homes, and send long standing businesses to the wall and that number of vote changes keeps growing.

No amount of cardboard Kev's verbal pomposity will disassociate Federal Labor from its matey connection with some of the most inept state governments since federation.

The honeymoon is over for Kevin, he cannot buy more votes without big rises in debt or taxation. Never in this nation's history has so much been spent to achieve so little.

Conroy's devious little plot alone wont change government, but add his blunders to all the other blunders and broken promises and you have the recipe for anything from electoral backlash to wholesale change.

22 February 2010, 4:52 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (Regular user):

Quoting Raindog:
the Minister for Cold Cold Change's efforts to burn down peoples homes


How can we sleep while our beds are burning?

22 February 2010, 7:47 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Raindog (User):

Quoting Tin:
How can we sleep while our beds are burning?



The time has come
To say Fair's fair
To demand the truth
To clear the air
The time has come
A facts a fact
We've paid too much
Lets give Pete the sack!


22 February 2010, 8:21 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Halcon (Advanced member):

This shows how the arrogant dishonourable prime minister will fare at the coming elections.
The Internet should be free of interference, everyone is entitled to use without limitations.
Moreover, the Internet does not come cheap, to access it the ISPs charge different amounts of money, for the download quota.
This is the worst thing this opportunistic politician want for us.
With the ALP in the power there is no progress, this is not the same as the illustrious Bob Hawke when he was Prime Minister of Australia.
The current administration has No interest in anything just to rob money from the public.
Unfortunately politics has crossed the realm of computing, and they want to play Command and Conquer at gunpoint to your head.

22 February 2010, 5:04 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

pmx (New user):

The problem is that this survey would be a massively skewed sample of the population and in no way representative of the country as a whole. It doesn't 'highlight widespread community disagreement' at all. It represents widespread disagreement within a tiny section of the community.

I doubt either polictical party would care about it.

Internet filter = vote winner. Thats why both major parties support it.
Even the Greens seem to support it, or they 'agree with the sentiment' of a filter.


22 February 2010, 5:49 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Aubrey (User):

So true pmx.

I'm against the filter full stop and have written more letters and emails on this than on anything else ever. But it is certainly an electoral winner for the Gov.

And, having just seen a TV clip of a "self confessed porn connoisseur" telling us how bad the filter will be, I'm inclined to believe the game is over.



22 February 2010, 7:26 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

internetisnotgovernments (New user):

The problem is that every survey done by the government to support their position was massively skewed. So whats your point?

The original petition for Internet Censorship came from church groups who had to submit it a ridiculous amount of times with small numbers of signatures to get through.

Now we have, Get up petition of over 100k people, whirlpool survey, the Sunrise TV show phone poll 98% against, the EFA senate petition 11k, facebook groups with heaps of people. Lets not forget the long list of Australian groups against it, and international groups like yahoo and google.

When does it matter? how many people does it take to make change?

Clearly it doesn't matter how much, because government doesn't work for the people??

Vote dems.

23 February 2010, 10:57 AM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (Regular user):

Quoting internetisnotgovernments:
Lets not forget the long list of Australian groups against it, and international groups like yahoo and google.


And there are a number of church groups against it too... Pity the crackpots give other people a bad name.

23 February 2010, 11:38 AM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

K (User):

Erm, this is like going to your local church and surveying the congregation if they believe in God.

23 February 2010, 8:35 AM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

David_Mongler (New user):

How could they possibly be trying to jam this through when only 3.2% of people support it? Not even the dumbest of people are falling for this "oh god somebody save the children!" scheme, we can all see through the rubbish of what is actually going on. Not even a media campaign can generate the false sense of agreement that these corrupt and inept politicians are looking for. Get rid of these corrupt bastards.

24 February 2010, 4:31 AM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

petert (Advanced Forumologist):

Let us remember that most of those who are now saying that they won't vote Labor at the next election were responsible for voting for Labor at the last election; albeit that introduction of a 'Net filter was part of their election campaign! Read the fine-print people!

Anyway, it is absurd to believe that the next election will be a one-issue election based solely on 'Net filtering.

24 February 2010, 1:33 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Raindog (User):

Quoting petert:
albeit that introduction of a 'Net filter was part of their election campaign!

In a print so fine as to be functionally invisible to the average voter. No media coverage, no core promises on electoral propaganda. This was an election promise you would have had to search long and hard to find. And in this era of core and none core promises how does Labor explain their failure to deliver so many of their bold typeface promises and yet delivery on an unpopular and mostly unannounced promise is now a priority? Who should trust this Labor with another vote?


24 February 2010, 2:16 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

petert (Advanced Forumologist):

Quoting Raindog:
Who should trust this Labor with another vote?


Labor voters, that is who! They were brought-up as Labor voters, generations of their family have been Labor voters, and the next generations will be Labor voters too. Their intractability is, unfortunately, what is keeping Labor in power across the nation.

24 February 2010, 3:04 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

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