Federal cabinet decided on November 8 to deny Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams the right of entry only recently granted to him by the United States, the UK and Canada. By Australian government standards, Adams is not considered of "good character".
So high are these standards, it seems, that anything less than taking part in the murder of tens of thousands of innocent people will not do. But then again, the colour of East Timorese blood is not English blue.
The minister for immigration, Philip Ruddock, cited Section 501 of the Migration Act as the legal basis for denying the visa applications of both Adams and fascist historian David Irving. The law allows the government to reject entry to any applicant who is deemed to be not of "good character", due to past criminal conduct or association with criminal organisations.
For John Howard, the Adams application was an "open and shut case", with "precious little to do with free speech". After all, Adams is the "political mouthpiece of a terrorist organisation". The only terrorists Howard is going to let into Australia are those who are heads of state: Suharto, Clinton and the like. Those who, like Gerry Adams, represent not terrorism but the self-defence of oppressed people, can have free speech only among themselves, not in Australia.
The Howard government is committed to defending free speech, and everything else, for some: those already in positions of power. If some "nutty" professor called Irving got caught in the firing line, too bad. The primary target of censorship is always those who have the fewest privileges but have the most to gain from standing up and being heard. Howard's free speech is not for the voices of the oppressed.
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