Censoring Climate “Misinformation”? You Must Be Joking

 

Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner has just come up with a truly inspired idea. No, not protecting free speech. Not defending open debate. Not ensuring that Australians have the right to question authority. No — the latest brainwave is that misinformation and disinformation about climate change should be censored.

You couldn’t script it better if you were writing a comedy. The very people who are supposed to be guardians of our liberties now want to muzzle us for daring to disagree with the “settled science” — a phrase that in itself should set alarm bells ringing.

And why? Because apparently, we can’t be trusted with dangerous ideas. We might say something naughty like “Australia, with just 1.3% of global emissions, can’t change the global climate” — which, of course, is true, but apparently also “dangerous.” Or we might question whether Labor’s trillion-dollar renewable binge really will be “cheaper than doing nothing” — a claim so ludicrous it belongs in the Guinness Book of Economic Fairy Tales.

But let’s not stop there. If we’re going to censor climate “misinformation,” why not take the same scissors to all the other “authoritative truths” we’ve been spoon-fed in recent years?

Remember when we were told the Covid vaccine would stop infection? How’d that work out?
Or when it was “racist” and “misinformation” to suggest the virus might have leaked from a Wuhan lab? Right up until it became… plausible.
Or the repeated assurances that the vaccines were completely safe? Tell that to the growing list of compensation schemes.

And climate? The track record is equally stellar.

• The North Pole would be ice-free by 2013. Oops.

• Tim Flannery’s gem: “The rains that fall will not fill our dams.” I’m sure the residents of flood-hit towns take great comfort in that one.

• Now the government line: Australia’s vast renewables spend will save us money compared to “doing nothing.” Try saying that with a straight face.

If these people had been in charge of Galileo’s day, he’d never have gotten away with that reckless “misinformation” about the Earth revolving around the sun.

The point is simple: science, policy, and democracy all rely on open debate. Bad ideas should be defeated in argument, not banned by bureaucrats. Censorship doesn’t protect truth; it protects incompetence.

So here’s a modest counter-proposal: instead of censoring Australians for “misinformation,” how about holding politicians, bureaucrats, and “experts” accountable for the mountain of falsehoods they’ve already peddled? At least then the comedy would be on their tab, not ours.