Free Speech Union's Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Join Nick Hanne, Jillaine Heather, and Alex Penk for an FSU Talk on the recent Law Commission's discussion paper which examined the question of amending the Human Rights Act to include trans gender and intersex individuals as a protected class. These potential changes have significant implications for free speech and the weaponisation of a subjective definition of identity and also harm.

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In this episode of the Free Speech Union podcast, Jonathan Ayling is joined by Simon O'Connor, former MP for Tamaki, and Nick Hanne, education partnership manager at FSU. The discussion revolves around a controversial letter signed by 400 church leaders denouncing the Act Party's Treaty Principles Bill. The episode delves into themes of free speech, democracy, and the historical and contemporary role of the church in public discourse. The conversation explores differing views on whether the push to stop the bill from going to select committee stifles public debate and the broader implications for free speech in New Zealand.

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Former Judge Dr. David Harvey and Netsafe CEO Brent Carey discuss the DIA's abandoned proposal for online censorship.

The Free Speech Union celebrates the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. It is increasingly clear Kiwis have no interest in our would-be-censors’ obsession with trying to control what they say. The DIA’s proposals for online content and media regulation set themselves up to effectively be hate speech laws for the internet and press, created by an unelected, unaccountable ‘regulator’ without the legislative scrutiny that Parliament normally provides. It is a worst-case scenario for free speech. 

Bravo, free speech champions of New Zealand

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Is academic freedom in Aotearoa in peril?

On this emergency episode of the Free Speech Union podcast, spokesperson Jonathan Ayling sits down with Professors Kendall Clements and Garth Cooper and who co-authored the infamous Listener article several months ago, which claimed Matauranga Maori and science are not the same thing 

They are now facing the fury of an offended academy, and an investigation has been launched to remove Prof. Cooper from his fellowship with the Royal Society of New Zealand.  www.fsu.nz/join 

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Comments made to the media about council staff have landed Michael Laws - Otago Regional Council deputy chairman and former Whanganui Mayor -  in hot water.

The code of conduct complaint was lodged by council chief executive Sarah Gardner on August 16. But Laws is fighting back with claims that codes of conduct, throughout the entire country, are a blight on local democracy as they are empowering chief executives to silence critics and dodge accountability. Michael talks us through the specifics of his case and lays out just how corrupt council's codes of conduct are. 

Get yourself up to speed in this quick but informative episode, because taking on codes of conduct is shaping up to be another major fight for the Free Speech Union www.fsu.nz/join 

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Is "Word Policing" consistent with Free Speech principles? Free Speech Union Spokesperson Dane Giraud speaks to Auckland-based solicitor and Spectator columnist Juliet Moses about her recent piece (available online: https://spectator.com.au/author/juliet-mosesexample-com/) that criticized a high profile protester's invoking of the Holocaust in opposition to Dave Chappelle's Netflix stand-up special "The Closer".  Dane and Juliet also wrestle with separating art from questionable artists and explore why so many Jews are front and center in the current pushback against wokeism and the current anti-speech movement. Join today fsu.nz/join 

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History may be brimming with battlegrounds, but the discipline has long been one itself. Propagandists both of yesteryear and today have tried to subvert it for ideological reasons which is why today's guest, Robert Tombs, Emeritus Professor of French History, Cambridge, and a Fellow of St John’s College, helped found "History Reclaimed", an initiative dedicated to clawing back the pursuit from bad-faith actors. Robert Tombs is joined by leading New Zealand Historian Prof. Paul Moon and Dr. David Cumin to discuss "History Reclaimed" and the general state of academic freedoms in the West today. www.fsu/join 

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Join us for an interview with author, journalist, gay-rights activist, and prominent free speech advocate, Jonathan Rauch. Originally recorded as a Free Speech Union members-only event, we now offer the wider New Zealand public an opportunity to listen to an audio version of the full, rousing interview. Free Speech Union Council Member, Dr. David Cumin moderates drawing from Rauch’s seminal book in support of Free Speech "Kindly Inquisitors".   

https://www.amazon.com/Kindly-Inquisitors-Attacks-Free-Thought/dp/0226705765

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New Plymouth District Councillor Anneka Carlson was sharply criticized after posting a 13-minute video to her personal Facebook page in which she covered topics including vaccine efficacy and human rights. Accused of being anti-vax the council resisted calls to take action against Carlson, but the incident did highlight how ready many people are to leap on anyone asking questions about the COVID response. Will demonizing and silencing critics work, however? Or does it risk tipping the undecided into the anti-vax camp? Rachel Poulain puts this question to Anneka Carlson and gets her side of the story as to what motivated the post, the misrepresentations she had to endure, and why allowing for the concerns of the hesitant is likely to be far more beneficial in the long run to the overall vaccine program. Join today www.fsu.nz/join 

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Free Speech Union spokesperson Dane Giraud interviews veteran journalist Ian Sinclair (most famous for a lengthy stint on staple investigative show "Sunday"). The discussion ranges from Ian's encounter with real fascism in Franco's Spain that inspired his move into hard-hitting journalism, the prevalence of opinion pieces today and whether they harm the current media landscape, and the potentially troubling implications of the new 55 million dollar media fund. Join us today at www.fsu/join 

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