Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

You might be interested in this. George Orwell defined doublethink as being able to tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, and to forget any fact that has become inconvenient. I cannot be certain that the minister genuinely believes in anything he is saying, of course, but he has certainly got the part about forgetting inconvenient facts down to a fine art.

We have seen doublethink and doublespeak from this government time and time again. In relation to these proposals, we have had Minister Conroy prattling that these reforms are somehow designed to protect diversity. Apparently, the suppression of views that this government finds objectionable will somehow lead to improved diversity in our media. This is actually the crux of the government's thinking: fewer voices means more diversity. That kind of logic sits nicely with the party slogans on the Ministry of Truth's walls in 1984:

War is peace. Freedom is slavery.

Perhaps the slogan from the Ministry of Truth that really appeals to this minister and this government is the third one:

Ignorance is strength.

That would certainly explain the manner in which Senator Conroy is treating his cabinet and caucus colleagues in relation to this significant matter. It would explain the way the government is treating this parliament, and through it, the Australian people. (Time expired)