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September 29th, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
LAWYERS say an appeal by columnist Andrew Bolt and his publisher the Herald and Weekly Times would face significant obstacles.
HWT, the News Limited-owned publisher of the Herald Sun, is not expected to decide on any action until next week.
Bolt used the Herald Sun to air his feelings. On the tabloid’s front page yesterday, he wrote of his shock at the decision, saying: “I cannot believe this is Australia, a land of free speech.”
Inside the paper he continued: “For expressing such views, in such language, I have lost my freedom to put my argument as I did.
“And be warned: use such phrases as those yourself, and you too may lose your right to speak.”
Constitutional lawyers are divided on the prospect of any appeal based on the freedom of speech provision in the Racial Discrimination Act. Lawyers and academics contacted by The Australian said if an appeal were mounted, the more likely approach would be to question interpretations of the act.
One constitutional lawyer, who wished to remain anonymous, said the High Court would first need to decide whether the matter deserved deliberation: “The High Court would be quite nervous because they’ve taken quite a strong line on that freedom implied in the Constitution.”
Another constitutional law expert pointed towards Coleman v Power Others (2004) as the most relevant case.
In that matter, the High Court overturned a ruling against a Townsville student, Patrick Coleman, who was convicted under the Vagrancy Act for yelling abuse about corruption at a policeman.
The Coalition has signalled it will try to amend the Racial Discrimination Act if it wins office, branding it a “terrible statute”.
But the Gillard government yesterday affirmed its support for the race laws, and backed the independence of the judiciary in reaching the Bolt verdict.
Opposition legal affairs spokesman George Brandis said the ruling of Federal Court judge Mordecai Bromberg had exposed a legal flaw that limits free speech.
“The fact is today in Australia we are not free, and journalists, commentators, ordinary citizens are not free, to make critical or unpopular remarks,” Senator Brandis told Sky News.
But the plaintiffs continued to celebrate the win, with former ATSIC commissioner Geoff Clark saying he hoped the decision would make people think about their views on racism.
“Racism is entrenched in society – I’m probably racist myself in some regards – and we have to accept some things can’t be tolerated,” he told Melbourne radio station 3AW.
The decision was criticised by some, including Media Watch host Jonathan Holmes, who said it “strikes me as profoundly disturbing”.
The judge’s claim “that his judgment need not affect the media’s freedom to publish reports and comments on racial identity is clearly absurd”, Holmes wrote on ABC’s The Drum website.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING: LANAI VASEK
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