An Australian member of parliament was stopped from speaking in the middle of a debate over free speech. <\/p>\n
Bill Shorten, the leader of Australias Labor Party, (pictured above) was stopped from speaking while attempting to criticize proposals by the government to change racial discrimination laws. <\/p>\n
Shorten was silenced after 74 MPs voted to cut short his time, which he was using to deride prime minister Malcolm Turnbull for his cynical legislation. <\/p>\n
AsHeat Street reported earlier this week, Australian politicians are attempting to amend the nations Racial Discrimination Act so that it is no longer illegal to offend somebody. <\/p>\n
They instead want to change the text of the legislation so that only exchanges which harass or intimidate people because of their race are a matter for the courts. Those who break the law are eligible for large fines. <\/p>\n
Turnbull and others say the current legislation has lost its credibility and must be amended to stop spurious claims and defend freedom of speech. <\/p>\n
However, their determination to protect free speech did not extend to the speech Shorten was trying to make. <\/p>\n
He piqued fellow legislators by proposing a motion deriding what he called a cynical attempt by the Prime Minister to be able to claim to the extreme elements in his party room that his Government is taking action <\/p>\n
Shortly after he finished describing his motion, an official called for a vote on whether Shorten should be forced to stop speaking. It passed by 74 votes to 69. <\/p>\n
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\nAustralian MP Censored in Debate on Free Speech - Heat Street<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"