National President of the Atheist Foundation of Australia, David Nicholls, is going to have to seek legal help to try to get his atheist bus ads approved.
APN Outdoor, the company who is in charge of advertising on buses in Adelaide and other cities, would not accept ads for an atheist bus campaign. According to a report on The Independent Weekly, Nicholl’s said:
…they wouldn’t accept any ad from atheists. I spoke with sales staff in Adelaide, then higher sales staff in Brisbane, and finally to a sales executive in Sydney. He said APN would have to seek legal advice but they rang back in less than a minute saying they were not going to take our ad, no matter how it was worded.
As a result, the atheist group has decided to take the case to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Nicholls said:
The world-wide response demands we act decisively to release freedom of expression from the arbitrary control of bus company advertising executives. We therefore have no option but to seek legal means to that end.
Interestingly, the Anglican Church of Australia agrees with atheists on the point that blasphemy should not be illegal. These two groups, along with about 150 others, have made submissions to the Australian Human Rights Commission stating that blasphemy should not be against the law.
Comments
I didn't realise how out of touch/date Australia are. Hope they resolve this.
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