Australia: "WikiLeaks Is Just As Bad As Child Porn" (Edit: Not So Much?)

Yep, Australia has just added Wikileaks to its list of banned websites. Anybody who links to WikiLeaks can now get fined up to 11 grand a day.

THAT will stop Australians from reading it, I'm sure.

Edit: Doesn't this do enormous harm to the list in general? Sure, you can justify a list that blocks kiddie porn and fining people who link to it. Not a great justification, but you can.

But WikiLeaks? What's next, banning people from linking to the Government of New Zealand the next time a trade dispute comes up? Banning people from linking to Chinese websites because China said something mean about the Australian Prime Minister? Banning links to adult porn sites because it encourages "deviant sexuality"?

So the government is entitled to omnipotent surveillance, and the people aren't allowed to read SFA. Well done. You might as well put up a big banner that says "Welcome to Australia: we just proved why Assange may have a point!"

Edit: And, just as fast, it would appear that it has been removed.  But this is more interesting: Apparently the Australian government is willing to go along with any American prosecution of Assange. Assange is an Australian national, so he may be more vulnerable here.

Then again, he may just as well renounce Australian citizenship. I'm not sure how that would affect things, but if he goes to Iceland—which has basically become a WikiLeaks haven—then he might well be secure.

Either way, I don't think this will stem the tide. If WikiLeaks falls, someone else will take up the slack.

Duverger's Law is Dead

Well, so much for the idea that two-party systems produce stable governments. Canada and the UK had already beaten it senseless, but Australia just fired a shotgun round in its temple.

(Or, as was so eloquently and clearly said by the Australian electorate, "mbgffhf and also gghg vvjjv jmmbmbmbff". Words to live by.)

In any case, a lot of this is because the Greens apparently had a breakthrough. So, hey, maybe Nader's old crew should step it up. Looks like America might have the only two-party system left.

Edit: Yes, yes, technically Duverger's is about straight-up FPTP systems, and Australia's lower house uses IRV. Even so.