Is there a point where it's better that some things are not said? If so, who gets to choose what can and can't be expressed? Is the idea of Democracy based upon the notion of complete unhindered freedom of speech, and does this in fact favor those who have the education, ability and opportunity to voice their opinions?
These were just some of arguments bandied about in this lively, thought-provoking and sometimes laugh-out-loud IQ Squared debate. An unlikely team gathered to argue the affirmative - the Reverend Peter Jensen, Lawyer, columnist and ABC Board Member Janet Albrechtsen, and Journalist David Marr.
Opposing the motion was Director of the Australian Classification Board, Donald McDonald. Senior Lecturer of Law, Dr Fleur Johns and Barrister David Knoll.
Bio
Janet Albrechtsen
Janet Albrechtsen is a columnist for The Australian, a lawyer and current ABC Board Member.
Reverend Peter Jensen
Reverend Peter Jensen is the 11th elected Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Diocese.
Dr. Fleur Johns
Fleur Johns is a senior Law Lecturer at the University of Sydney. She specializes in international law, international human rights and legal theory.
She is a graduate of both the University of Melbourne and Harvard Law School.
David Knoll
David Knoll is a Sydney Barrister, currently a Visiting Fellow in Law at the University of NSW. He is immediate Former President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.
He has written extensively on racial vilification, human rights, faith and conflict within multi-cultural society. He served as junior counsel on the Federal Court legal action against holocaust denier Frederick Tobin.
David Marr
David Marr is a journalist at the Sydney Morning Herald, he is also trained as a lawyer and previously presented ABC TV's Media Watch.
He is the co-author, with Marian Wilkinson, of Dark Victory, about the Tampa affair, and The Henson Case, about the Bill Henson controversy of 2008. He is also Vice President of Watch on Censorship.
Donald McDonald
Donald McDonald is the Director of the Australian Classification Board and former Chairman of the ABC.
He has also been the former chief executive of the Australian Opera and General Manager of the Sydney Theatre Company.