Letter

In response to The chilling effect of recent legislation

Restrictive laws drive increasing authoritarianism

Paul Heyward-Smith’s article is a necessary wake-up call to the incessant growth of pernicious legislation that corrodes society’s rights.

I cannot recall any ever relaxation of ’emergency’ legislation responding to some infringement of freedom of dissent, expression, association etc. of our rights as citizens. Once enacted, that legislation becomes foundation for increasing restrictions - and rinse and repeat.

We have the example of the perversion of the US Supreme Court as a reminder that we must always resist abuse of our fundamental rights as citizens. Give the proto-fascists an inch and they will take every scrap of power they can grab and then some.

This is ongoing assault on human rights. We must fight it for our sake and the sake of those who follow.

— Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale