Sedition and the question of freedom of speech

Since September 11 2001, the Australian Federal Government has passed a number of pieces of legislation designed to fight terrorism.1 Included in the legislative package is an expansion of laws that target sedition. The law of sedition prohibits speech or writing that is intended to lead to violent conduct, or to 'incite' violence against and 'hatred' of elected governments. Given that sedition presents limitations and prohibitions against freedom of speech -- widely recognised as one of the most fundamental freedoms of liberal democratic societies - the law of sedition presents a series of problems in the context of western liberal democracies.