Sedition in its modern meaning first appeared in the Elizabethan Era (c. 1590) as the "notion of inciting by words or writings disaffection towards the state or constitued authority".
In 2005 the Federal government re-introduced the Sedition Act along with a raft of "anti-terrorist" legislation. The Sedition Act [2005] which are Part of Schedule 7 of the draft laws (p75) outline the following: �In this section: seditious intention means an intention to effect any of the following purposes: (a) to bring the Sovereign into hatred or contempt; (b) to urge disaffection against the following: (i) the Constitution; (ii) the Government of the Commonwealth; (iii) either House of the Parliament; (c) to urge another person to attempt, otherwise than by lawful means, to procure a change to any matter established by law in the Commonwealth; (d) to promote feelings of ill-will or hostility between different groups so as to threaten the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth.
Sedition laws are internationally recognised as anti-democratic laws. In the past 40 years countries that have repealed such laws include Canada, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, South Africa, Taiwan, the United States and Britain. Countries that have either updated or used sedition laws during this time include China, Cuba, Hong Kong, Malaysia, North Korea, Singapore, Syria and Zimbabwe.
As lawyer Chris Connolly put it: "The clear lesson from the history of sedition laws is that they are used routinely by oppressive regimes, or are used by more liberal regimes at times of great national stress. Their use is nearly always the subject of considerable regret at a later date."
The fact that the Howard 'liberal' government has thought it necessary to re-instate these archaic laws is a sign that they now regard free speech and civil society as part of "the enemy".
Famous people charged with sedition in the past - SOCRATES, JESUS, THOMAS PAINE (The Rights of Man), PETER LALOR (Eureka rebellion), MAHATMA GHANDI, NELSON MANDELA