Weird assault on free speech in an Australian State

Australia's High Court would probably disallow it but getting into that court takes big bucks

The Victorian Parliament is set to pass new legislation making it a criminal offence to "insult" Gaming Minister Michael O'Brien. Fines of up to $11,945 will be given to anyone found guilty of upsetting the minister and his staff under the extraordinary new offence.

The Baillieu Government is seeking changes to the Gaming Regulation Act which it says are "reasonably necessary to respect the rights and reputation of the minister and authorised persons". If passed, the ruling will become law.

The amendment proposed to the Act will make it an offence to "assault, obstruct, hinder, threaten, abuse, insult or intimidate" the minister or authorised persons exercising "due diligence" in monitoring gambling systems such as pokies.

The bipartisan Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee also raised concerns about the move last week, noting "the criminalisation of insults may capture behaviour that is unlikely to hinder the exercise of powers ... or impinge on anyone's rights or reputation".

The Bill passed the Lower House last week and is expected to be introduced to the Upper House when Parliament resumes on October 25. [Where it could get knocked back]

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It's hard to understand their thinking on this. It does make them look ridiculous. The government concerned is a recently-installed conservative one. Victoria does a a reputation for being prim and proper.

It may have been just a lazy bit of drafting to include the minister in the amendments. The idea seems to be to get back at people who insult or hinder government inspectors of the gambling industry, who can be a rough lot, but government inspectors should be men enough to put up with occasional insults when they disrupt other people's lives.