Uni’s LNP club calls for reintroduction of controversial Queen law

You might remember that it was once illegal to say anything against the monarchy in Australia.

Well, it could soon be law again if the University of Queensland branch of the Liberal-National Party had their way.

The UQLNP group have supported a motion in favour of reintroducing sedition laws in Australia that would effectively make it illegal to insult the Queen.

While not insulting the Queen might seem like commonsense, there’s been plenty of debate about whether or not it should really be made a law again.

BuzzFeed reports that the motion was moved in response to a republican movement at the university in recent months, and that when it was debated, the LNP group lost to the uni’s Australian Republican Movement club.

So, what are sedition laws and when were they last used in Australia?

Well, nobody has been charged under sedition laws since 1961.

But it was used several times in the ’40s and ’50s, and in 1960 one man was famously jailed for telling “the natives” of Papua New Guinea to become independent from Australia.

The Young Greens have dismissed the motion, saying it was “no wonder the LNP’s youth vote is tanking” and that there were more important issues such as housing affordability for people to focus on.

You might be wondering what the Liberals had to say in their defence?

Well, apparently the UQ group wouldn’t speak to BuzzFeed.

But the Federal Young Liberals did and they told BuzzFeed they didn’t expect the motion would have widespread support.

“I wouldn’t expect this policy to have wider support within our Movement – many of whom are arch monarchists and love the Queen,” President Aiden Depiazzi.

So, what do you think? Should sedition laws be reintroduced to Australia? Or are there more important things the country should be focusing on?