Mark writes about freedom of speech in democracy.

Author: Mark Seymour.

Date: 19 March 2026.

Original URL: N/A.

Article Text

When a political issue stops the traffic, punters get angry. But that’s the whole point. Public protest is supposed to be inconvenient. Inconvenience creates reaction. Talk back radio erupts with complaining wheel tappers..

‘they’re all bloody ratbags mate.. professional agitators.. with hidden agendas creating trouble.’…

While you’re sitting there tapping the wheel full of indignation over your personal space being infringed, they’re marching past chanting over some great moral injustice that you don’t even know about.

For them everyone’s humanity is at stake, including yours even though you don’t know it yet but without your attention and potentially thousands of others like you, the issue will eventually disappear because the outrage of a few thousand punters on Bourke Street simply won’t reach Kalgoolie..

Commercial media, the kind you are likely to glance at when you get home from your daily commute will ignore what you have just witnessed so street protesters try to get in your face directly, unless of course the issue erupts on Instagram and if that happens all bets are off, which is pretty much how things roll these days.

Exploding buildings, kids buried in rubble, screaming wounded in emergency wards all appear in the palm of your hand in almost real time.

Still, critical mass is hard to reach. You might be shocked by what you are seeing but the price of fuel might affect you more. You might grow numb to the carnage or be driven to ask,

‘Why is this even happening?’

Perception is half the battle and if the issue looks toxic enough, like say, the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza..

and the ‘broader public’ starts getting upset by what they are witnessing, beyond the traffic lights, the home commute or the footy,

public outrage begins to affect the ‘balance of power’.

Lines must be redrawn between political parties, now desperate to come up with the an answer to your question.

Again, ‘Why is this happening?’

By way of explanation, new stories are told, new narratives, some true, some complete bullshit.

In a democracy like ours public opinion is crucial. Even the slightest shift in perception can swing an election. Gaza is in the Middle East after all, and there’s never been an Australian Government who was able to resist getting involved, so clearly in this case, despite the deaths of 70 odd thousand, there were foreign policy implications, matters of defence, even immigration..

I wrote this a few weeks ago and now of course, the cost of your commute is seriously being affected on a whole new level, well beyond the humble street march..

So, are you joining the dots yet?

Gaza was everywhere. Regardless of what side you took, you couldn’t ignore it. It was after all, horrible beyond description and the world was bearing witness.

but then of course, predictably, in comment streams everywhere, voices began to preach.. that artists like me shouldn’t ‘get political’

‘stay away from politics mate.. music and politics don’t mix..’

Or sport for that matter.. or art.. or whatever.

Needless to say, I’ve been on the receiving end of this kind of polemic many times before. I’ve even had cans thrown at me but I just don’t understand why it’s so controversial for artists to comment on any public event as opposed to everybody else who gets to lean in with every shade of opinion imaginable, every night on commercial news.

Let’s face it. Artists are sentient beings. There we all were, consumed by the spectacle of innocents being slaughtered like fish in a barrel and somehow you seriously expected us to ignore this particular horror and write about something more congenial like.. I dunno..

Birds? Flowers? My love life?

Art isn’t created in a vacuum mate. Like you, I get held up in the traffic. Things annoy me. I write stuff down. My words reflect my attitude. I can’t pretend otherwise. My songs are about my humanity and yours. Life is an open book as they say.

But let’s face it, anyone who hits the streets with a loud hailer, waves the bible in your face, or sprays invective on instagram, has a clear idea why. Massed cruelty, corruption, hypocrisy and what looks like genocide, it’s all bound to trigger you somehow. Outrage, grievance, injustice. Punters will speak their truth whether you like it or not and mostly I admire those who do..

Call it free speech.

Hell, there are any number of countries where it doesn’t exist and people get by. ‘Free speech?’ I hear you say.. ‘So what?’

Sure, you just get locked up if you say anything publically critical not only of whoever’s got the guns, army or police, but also any country that your government may have some kind of deal with, through foreign policy or military alliance.

So you keep your mouth shut.

When criticism is silenced, usually through force, it doesn’t matter if a government claims to represent the so called ‘silent majority’ because once power is entrenched without accountability, representation becomes irrelevant. Governments can do what they want. In the absence of free speech the state can exploit, maim or kill without restraint. It’s that simple.

I don’t know about you but I’d prefer the noise, whether I agree with it or not.. You want to be able to trust that your community, your tribe, your team, you… will be allowed to flourish. You might get held up at the traffic lights. Hey, I’ll put up with it. Democracy isn’t peaceful or silent.

Sometimes I look back at the past and believe that things were better.. but they weren’t. Not really. So forgive me if I join the noise occasionally.

Words in a song or the odd on-stage rant.

I don’t mean to offend but what matters most to me now is the kind of world my children will inherit and it affects what I write and say.

Like you, I wish humanity was better than it is..

and like you, I claim the right to speak freely

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