Urgent law reform needed to prevent Australians being gagged

Media Release April 3, 2006

The 'Gunning for Change' report.

More than 140 of Australia’s leading legal minds have joined forces to call for urgent law reform to protect the community’s right to speak out and take action over public issues, such as Tasmania’s forests.

The unprecedented move by so many working in the law is in response to an increasing number of law suits against ordinary Australians for speaking publicly or demonstrating on public issues. The most recent example is the current $6.8 million action by Gunns Ltd against 20 people in relation to disputes over the protection of Tasmania’s forests.

“The increasing use of litigation against community participation in public issues has the serious effect of intimidating the community, chilling public debate and silencing voices that should be heard in a democratic society,” sponsors of the Lawyers’ Statement said.

Also released today, a report prepared by The Wilderness Society’s legal adviser Dr Greg Ogle documents the increasing number of cases that have chilled public debate through law suits against community activists and groups. The report Gunning for Change (Download PDF, 330KB) also examines a range of reforms and models for protecting public participation from this type of lawsuit.

Dr Ogle said the list of cases was long and getting longer, and that you only need to look at the size of the Gunns case and what is being claimed to see how the law can strike fear into the hearts of communities taking a stand for what they believe in.

“Without free speech, ordinary Australians will be stopped from doing what they do best when they see injustices, and that’s stand up and be counted,” Dr Ogle said.

“The need for law reform to protect free speech has never been greater than now as the number of cases against ordinary community members is rising steeply.”

“The problem with cases such as the current legal claims by logging company Gunns Ltd against 20 community members is that, irrespective of the outcome, they silence free speech and political protest because of the fear of litigation.”

Click here for a copy of the Gunning for Change report (PDF, 330KB)

Click here for a copy of the Statement from Australian Lawyers (PDF, 20KB)