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Australia
This page discusses sedition regimes in Australia and
New Zealand
It covers -
 Australia
Australia
inherited the UK security law regime, with the 1819 'Six
Acts' for example being echoed in legislation such as
the 1827 NSW enactment against "publication of Blasphemous
and Seditious Libels". Each colony adopted and adapted
English law regarding riot, respect for the Crown and
public menaces.
The initial federal Crimes Act, subsequently much amended,
reflected updating of the UK and colonial legislation
during the 1890s regarding Fenians, anarchists and other
threats.
Prosecutions from last century included action against
- radical
Henry Holland (1868-1933), jailed for sedition in NSW
during 1909 over advocacy of violent revolution during
the Broken Hill miners' strike and jailed in NZ during
the 1913 waterfront dispute
- lawyer
and Communist Party figure Fred Paterson (1897-1977)
over a speech in 1930 in the Brisbane Domain
- Communist
Party leader Lance Sharkey over alleged incitement of
support for the USSR during the Cold War.
Other 'Offences against the Government' as part of the
Crimes Act include treason (s. 24), treachery (s. 24 AA)
and sabotage (s. 24 AB).
Treason comprises killing or wounding the sovereign, levying
war against the Commonwealth of Australia, and assisting
an enemy at war with Commonwealth of Australia.
Treachery encompasses "any
act or thing with intent" to -
i)
overthrow the constitution of the Commonwealth by revolution
or sabotage; or
ii) overthrow by force or violence the established Government
of the Commonwealth, of a state or of a proclaimed country
The
Australian regime has been strengthened over the past
thirty years, with federal/state government agencies
for example gaining greater surveillance powers regarding
organisations that have variously included the Ananda
Marga and Al-Qa'ida and the federal government moving
to proscribe particular bodies. The salient enactment
is the Security Legislation Amendment (Terrorism)
Act 2002, which encompasses a list
of proscribed organisations.
the 2005 legislation
Controversial anti-terrorism proposals from the federal
government in 2005 have sought to extend the existing
sedition regime by introducing offences of urging "assistance
of any kind" to the enemy (a broad definition that
has been criticised as overly wide) and by expanding the
test for banning an "unlawful association",
based on a similarly broad definition of "seditious
intention". The ability to use "good faith"
defences has been limited (and in some circumstances completely
removed, with the publisher of writings of an unlawful
association for example having no defences).
New Zealand
In New Zealand restrictions on sedition under the Crimes
Act essentially prohibit only the advocacy of violence
or disobedience to law. It is not sedition to urge any
change in the law, however radical, and political expression
under the NZ Bill of Rights Act 1986 cannot be
seditious. A school teacher was thus found not guilty
of "disrespecting the flag" after incinerating
one during an anti-war march in 2003. (The Australian
flag burning regime is discussed here.)
Section 81 of the Crimes Act currently makes
it an offence to
(a) To bring into hatred or contempt, or to excite disaffection
against, Her Majesty, or the Government of New Zealand,
or the administration of justice; or
(b) To incite the public or any persons or any class
of persons to attempt to procure otherwise than by lawful
means the alteration of any matter affecting the Constitution,
laws, or Government of New Zealand; or
(c) To incite, procure, or encourage violence, lawlessness,
or disorder; or
(d) To incite, procure, or encourage the commission
of any offence that is prejudicial to the public safety
or to the maintenance of public order; or
(e) To excite such hostility or ill will between different
classes of persons as may endanger the public safety.
The right of jury trial in sedition cases was taken away
in 1951, apparently over concerns that jury members might
not share an anti-communist zeal, but was restored in
1960.
Prior to 2004, with action against activist Tim Selwyn
for seditious conspiracy, there appear to have been no
prosecutions over the past 50 years. Earlier prosecutions
are highlighted on the following page of this note.
Under section 73 of the Crimes Act, treason includes
to
kill or wound the sovereign, to levy war against New
Zealand, to assist an enemy at war with New Zealand
and to use force for the purpose of overthrowing the
Government of New Zealand.
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