Recent entries
- Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads'
- "I'll pay the fee," says Hinch
- 'Pathetic' and 'dangerous' sentence
- US Defence's 'news' irks Hinch
- Richmond denies St Kilda incident
- It's 'No, Prime Minister' from Hinch
- Greens' downfall imminent?
- Back-watching time for the PM?
- RSS Syndicate this blog (XML)
What we're talking about
- Troy on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I have seen this family fighting day after day for months trying to get their kids/siblings back home. The dedication and ... more
- Pauline on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' DHS have destroyed my own family. They failed in their duty of care to provide a baby moniter for the deaf , thousands of ... more
- Christine on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' isn't it funny how DHS don't recognise the psychological effects of domestic violence on children and continue to allow ... more
- Warrior princess on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' There is a family In the Cairns Area who are Foster Carers.Atherton Child Safety have threatened the carers and own ... more
- duncan on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' i have spent time with this family. it is a house full of love. "mum", grandfather and older sblings.this cannot be an issue ... more
- Tracey on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Family Law is different from the rest of the law in this country.. Ie. Family Law is based on probability: ie if it might ... more
- carol annetta on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' having known this family for some time i am disgusted with the treatment she has received. it seems more of a witch hunt ... more
- Maureen Hillary on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Derryn,I have counselled traumatized parents as a result of DHS staff.There are great staff workers who care but they ... more
- Janet Tavener on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I am a visitor to this country.My attention was drawn to the case of these children and their foster mother by a relative of ... more
- sam on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Happening in Tasmania also.Wewon a court case over 8 months ago and due process still hasn't been done.We spent 17,000 ... more
- Anne Glover on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I just cannot believe what the DHS has put the Foster Mother, and the children through - I thought the DHS was supposed to ... more
- Tracey on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' DHS are the most disgraceful organization I have ever had the displeasure of becoming involved with. They are so ... more
- Vicki on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Hi Derryn,I have known this carer since primary school, she has always put others above herself. Being a carer myself I know ... more
- Gran'ma Pam on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' As any of us with any sense know, these children should NEVER have been taken from this lady (mum) in the first place, they ... more
- Dominic Lombardo on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I see my daughter every six months DHS are conducting a vendetta against me I have not been told why I can only see her ... more
- cassy houghton on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Hello Derryn,Firstly i would like to thankyou for your support and the willingness to help this beautiful family.I ... more
- Warrior princess on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Im a carer also in Qld. I see this happen way too much from our Government. They are starting to use Carers own children as ... more
- paul on "I'll pay the fee," says Hinch I believe what Liberal Party has done is stupid. But I feel for candidates like Joh Bauch and James Buonopane who want to ... more
- Andrea on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Why are these public servants allowed to blatantly flout the law without the same consequences the rest of society faces? I ... more
- birth mother on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' i am the birth morther of these 4 children and i just want to say dhs dont care they just want the kids in care so they can ... more
Hinch on the political blackout
If this were the Thursday before another election I would not be allowed to come on air today and comment on last night’s people’s forum in Brisbane.
Tony Tardio would not be allowed to tell you on the 3AW News what Tony Abbott was doing during his 36-hour campaign marathon he launched this morning. The ABC would not be allowed to broadcast Prime Minister Gillard’s speech today from the National Press Club. And, I guess, SKY News would have to close down.
Sounds far-fetched, but that was the way things were in this country as recently as the 1980s. The election blackout for federal and state elections still applied.
They called it the ‘48-hour blackout’ from midnight Wednesday night but it was actually 66 hours because it remained in force until the polls closed on the Saturday.
The ban also applied to political ads on radio and television. That ban still applies – and many people, bombarded by a relentless barrage of propaganda, think that’s a good thing.
The media blackout only applied to radio and television. In fact, when I first challenged this stupid, undemocratic law, all I did was attempt to read out on air what was in the morning papers. No Comment. Just read what was in The Age and The Australian. That was the Thursday morning before the Victorian state election in May 1979. I was immediately suspended.
I did it again before the federal election in 1980 and again in 1983.
Suspended, threatened with the sack, resigned, re-instated. I remember being interviewed by Mike Willesee on his television current affairs program an I dared him to hold up the newspaper he had on his desk. He wouldn’t. It would have been a breach of the law.
At the time I said I was pleased that so many of my colleagues were behind me, just didn’t realise how far behind me they were.
It was nonsense. A dreadful imposition on free speech. I used to point out the absurdity of it by saying if Harold Holt had drowned two days before an election we would have been breaking the law by reporting it.
It took me four years of protest and breaking a bad law but finally I won. The the Hawke Government abolished the blackout in 1983.
Now it is a quaint, anachronistic footnote in our political history. It was a milestone in my career. One of the things of which I am most proud. But, I’ll concede one thing: At the end of this droning, repetitive, lacklustre election campaign there are some of you who would welcome a flash of tranquillity ... a two-day break from all the spin and all the propaganda.
Sorry, but that’s life.
