Former party lawmakers say support for the new Expression of Hate Act is the latest bipartisan move that alienates conservative members and voters.
John Ruddick, NSW, MP, Libertarian, hopes that the Liberal Party will be reunited with the founding principles of classical liberalism.
He says his previous party’s support for the state’s hate speech laws is against these values.
“There are still some grand founding principles that are essentially libertarians. Robert Menzies was a radical free speech,” Raddick said during the Epoch era as part of a hate speech law conference with the Australian Jewish Association.
“They still hope that the party will turn a turnaround, but I’m looking at the last (federal) Liberal government…and I’m looking at the very unfortunate government.
He said the situation was the same at the state level, and it was off course while the party was in office from 2011 to 2023.
“I don’t really believe that,” Raddick said.
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NEWS Wales Libertarian MP John Ruddick at a press conference at the Capitol in Canberra, Australia on November 23, 2021. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
Ruddick has been a member of the party for 25 years and has made several attempts to reform the internal mechanisms.
He left the Liberal Party in 2021 after disagreement over the party’s support for the Covid-19 lockdown policy.
He later joined the liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats became Liberal Australia based on traditional libertarian principles such as less government involvement in individuals’ lives.
The party has absorbed Covid-19 policies in recent years, including individuals who are unhappy with major political parties, or former liberal members of Hughes, former Queensland Prime Ministers Campbell Newman and Craig Kelly.
The Minor Party is one of several “Liberal Party” to challenge the 2025 election, including the more famous One Nation, Gerard Rennick’s First, The Heart Party and Family First.
Hate Speech Law is not what liberals are
The Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2025 was passed at the federal level in February after a series of anti-Semitism cases, including those revealed to be false terrorism conspiracies.
A significant change to the Criminal Code Act of 1995 means that “advocacy for power or violence” is criminalised.
These crimes no longer require the intent of armed force or violence to actually occur. Now, if a person is “reckless” about whether power or violence will occur, that’s enough.
However, the Liberal Party’s bipartisan support for these laws is against the basis of free speech, according to Ruddick.
It also represented another moment when he felt his actions as he left the party were justified.
“As we know, it was these sleazy anti-Semitic attacks that we saw almost every day from December to January,” Raddick said.
“It was amazing, and politicians were saying, ‘What can we do about it?” (NSW Premier) Chris Mins said, “We’re going to be tough.” “We’re going to be tough,” Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton said.
“What can politicians do? They can only bring in the law. They have no other options. They plunged into them.
Ruddick believes the law was enacted for popularity rather than feeling safer Australians.
“I call them anti-free speech laws, but I feel that it’s all driven by politics. The law should not be made in the moment when the public is wary of something,” he said.
Continuously focused on freedom of speech
Raddick said libertarians will continue to promote the Australian version of the US First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech.
“One of the first things I did when I was elected was to propose an amendment to the NSW Constitution, which said, “We need constitutional protections for freedom of speech.”
“But that’s what we’re fighting for because we fundamentally believe in freedom of speech.”
“It’s surprising what we saw in the UK.”
Ruddick is concerned about how hate speech laws are in effect under the UK’s Ministry of Priority.
Former soldier Duffron Williams was jailed last November after pleading guilty to inciting anti-Islamic racial hatred in a series of social media posts.
“The Civil War is here. All we’re missing is bullets. That’s the next step.”
Cardiff Crown Court reportedly sent messages to Iraq and Afghan veterans with PTSD before and after the death of three girls in a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport in July, causing the riot.
Raddick fears that Australia’s hate speech law could lead people to be jailed and imprisoned for “thinking crimes.”
But he also sees President Donald Trump’s election victory and his free speech advocates as a sign of hope for the West.
“It’s surprising what we see in many parts of Europe, especially Western and Northern Europe,” he said.
“But why am I optimistic is that in 1979 the UK elected new Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
“And she had the agenda of radical free market reform, privatization, and all these good things that libertarians believe in.
“Within ten or two, the majority of the world will follow her. Success will collapse and happen in the Trump administration.”
Libertarians and one country can cooperate
Raddick said the libertarians and one of their nations, fellow Conservatives, could cooperate in future federal elections.
“We are very hoping that libertarians and one country can enter into two two priority contracts nationwide,” he said.
“I hope that libertarian senators will be elected nationwide, but if they are not and one senator is elected, I am 80% happy.
