Friday, August 24, 2007

Now they're making boycotting illegal?!

Read this article.

The Australian government is trying to push through legislation that would allow companies who are adversly affected by consumer boycotts to sue those who promote said boycott.

For example, if the Human Battery Cage persuades enough people to buy free range eggs, and factory farms that utilise battery cages lose profits, the activists can be taken to court.

The only other examples I can think of are vegan, fair-trade, or environmentally-based. Many of these movements rely on consumer-based activism. I thought that was sort of the point of capitalism--suppliers need to produce products that are high in demand, even if that means they are ethically produced.

Shane, from the Human Battery Cage crew, sent me this:

Please write to the Senate Economics Committee (SEC) registering your
concerns about the Bill before this Friday - 24th of August 2007.

The committee is to report to the Senate on 5 September 2007.

The Committee requests that where possible, submissions should also be
provided by email to economics.sen@aph.gov.au , preferably as MS Word or RTF
format documents. Notes to assist in preparing submissions are available
from the website http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/wit_sub/index.htm or
telephone the Secretariat on 02 6277 3540, fax: 02 6277 5719, or e-mail at
the above address.
Aussie vegans, I know it's short notice, but if you can whip together something, anything, send it on to the Senate Ethics Committee. I think legislation like this is just ridiculous.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is ridiculous! Things like that shouldn't go on in a democracy, it's just a way to take away power from the people. Idiots!

xxx said...

"The only other examples I can think of are vegan, fair-trade, or environmentally-based." - What about boycotts in case of human rights violations ? Wouldn't this be a case for Amnesty International ? Isn't the liberty of speech a basic human right ? And what about journalists ? Are they also not allowed to speak about the truth and encourage a boycott ? This would be simply censorship ! I will send this to Amnesty Australia...

david santos said...

It has forts possibilities to have a conspiracy in England, so that the case of Madeleine is not clarified.

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

that is so absurd.

Unknown said...

Then, the customer/consumer is NOT always right. After all these are consumer motivated boycotts, because everybody is a consumer (unless you live under a rock or grow and produce your own sustainable resources). I have a funny feeling this will backfire on the government.

bazu said...

Woah. My first thought was, that sounds like something America would do! My second thought was, there are way too many wacked out conservatives who want to boycott companies for not saying "merry christmas" for that to ever happen here. But it's eerie all the same.

Theresa said...

Reiskeks, human rights boycotts, of course. Ethical consumers of all stripes are screwed.

vko said...

So ridiculous. Someone's getting paid a lot of money to push this ridiculousness. How shameful.