The federal Coalition government's anti-terrorism legislation — backed by all state governments — is a serious threat to civil liberties and freedom of artistic expression.
The January 20 confiscation by Footscray police of Azlan McLennan's artwork "Proudly unAustralian", a burned Australian flag exhibited at the local gallery Trocadero Art Space, is the most recent attempt to curb dissent. This is the fourth time McLennan has been censored in 18 months and the police's threats to possibly charge the artist sets a new precedent in the recent bouts of intimidation and censorship of cultural expression.
Artists and cultural workers have launched a petition in support of freedom of cultural expression and condemning the confiscation of McLennan's art. It calls on the Victorian police to drop any impending charges against McLennan and to issue him with an apology. It also calls on the state Labor government to instruct police to stop raiding art galleries and removing art works, and commits the signatories to support any individual artist or artistic institution that is subject to attempts at censorship or persecution.
The petition can be downloaded or signed online at <http://www.socialist-alliance.org>. You can visit McLennan's website at <http://www.azlanmclennan.org/press5_trocadero.html>.
For more information, or to help with the campaign, phone Brianna Pike on (03) 9639 8622.
From Green Left Weekly, February 15, 2006.
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