Letter to The Editor - It might be electorally wiser for the Coalition to defend free speech

To The Australian         Milo Yiannopoulos is not under threat of being banned from entry here "because he just happens to champion the right side of politics" as Ian Kent claims (8/3). His trolling activities "to make as much noise as possible" are repugnant and his presence in our land would probably be a cause of irritating public disturbances. Yet do these factors really amount to justification for the entry ban? The suspicion arises, as with the recent entry ban on David Icke, that the Government is taking the easy way out to avoid negative publicity before the elections and that at the same time it is pandering to powerful sectional interests which continually seek to unfairly minimize adverse comment on their activities. It might be electorally wiser for the Coalition to defend free speech more robustly in future.
  Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic