Labor Senator Kristina Keneally has made headlines recently with her opposition to the Australian CPAC conference, to be held in Sydney in a few days time. Firstly, she campaigned for one of the conference speakers, Raheem Kassan, to be refused entry to Australia. In an interview today, she called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to condemn the conference, and claimed that it would disseminate dangerous "alt-right" extremism, and just days after two mass shootings in the United States, sought to link it with the National Rifle Association, which opposes restrictions on gun ownership.
I am not comfortable with the idea of governments arbitrarily shutting down individuals simply because they disagree with their ideas. It would be far better to let their ideas be discussed and debated openly by the Australian public. That's how a healthy democracy is supposed to work. I don't need to be protected from ideas that offend me, Senator Kenneally. Nor, dare I suggest, do the majority of the people of Australia.
I went to hear you speak at a public forum once, Senator. From what I know of your political, economic, and theological views, there's not much that I agree with, but I wanted to hear what you had to say regardless. Can we not extend the same courtesy to the CPAC conference? Let people attend and engage with the ideas presented without unnecessary governmental interference.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/unhinged-libs-dismiss-keneallys-alt-right-claims/news-story/c8b2214b6715e5c1f5070db965045591
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