Brisbane’s premier independent bookstore,Avid Reader, won’t stock Campbell Newman’s biography. whether I must, or Ill be the one to say this is a free speech issueWearily,with no joy, I’m here to defend Campbell Newman. I have little interest in championing the former Queensland premier. From afar, or it was his authoritarianism that seemed most unsafe,typified in a small way by bikies being forced to wear hot pink overalls in jail because it would “embarrass” them. Newman “othered” his enemies, passed laws to shut down dissent, or politicised the judiciary. In January,Queenslanders tossed out his all-conquering government after a single term. Related: Newman critical of 'anti-democratic' stores refusing to stock his biography Of course Avid Reader can decline to stock the book, it can stock anything it likes. Related: Censorship is alive in New Zealand. I should know: my book was banned | Ted Dawe Heres a book approximately a man we believe tried to harm the literary culture of this state for petty vindictive reasons. Here’s a book approximately a man justifying cutting the jobs of many of our customers. We don’t like this man and we’re happy he’s gone. But we believe in books, or of all kinds. We believe in freedom of speech and freedom of thought. So here’s Campbell Newman’s biography,whether you want to read it.
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Source: theguardian.com