Matilda Bawden (B.A.;B.Soc. Admin.) - My Speech to Salisbury Council
I stand here to represent no one but myself as a resident and ratepayer in this Council area of over 30 years.
Firstly, I am disappointed to find that Madam Mayor, you have allowed only 20 people inside to hear these proceedings. We know this venue holds many times more than that when you hold citizenship ceremonies.
Secondly, I am disappointed that my voice is not being represented by Councillors from my own Para Ward – specifically Cr Grenfell and Cr Ouks. In fact, all (but two) Councillors from the City of Salisbury have demonstrated such hostility for, and contempt towards, the voice of any opposition to its SMART Cities campaign, whilst at the same time it is denying the residents any right to know just how extensively the SMART Cities rollout has been planned, how far in advance and at what projected cost.
In 1966, my parents fled a communist country on foot TWICE before coming here on a one-way ticket, their first attempt was unsuccessful and they were incarcerated, so the idea that any government will treat its citizens as serfs and slaves is repugnant in the extreme to me and my family.
It is NOT the role NOR RIGHT of any local government to strip residents of their Constitutional, lawful rights by stealth or opportunism. It is not the prerogative of the Council to claim to have powers over residents which it legally & Constitutionally does not, and that includes tracking and tracing residents through QR Codes, Sign in Sheets and other means of coercively forcing residents to forfeit their rights to privacy. In fact, I have spent a solid month at the South Australian Supreme Court almost every day and never had to sign in once, so the notion that you as mere Councillors need greater protections than people dealing with hardened criminals on a daily basis is absurd and makes you look rather silly.
The fact that Council is arrogating for itself the right to exercise these tactics shows it is all too eager to thumb its nose at the Constitutional rights of residents and that it will continue to do so with ever increasing veracity as it becomes more emboldened to exert control over the residents.
I was willing to give you, Madam Mayor, the benefit of the doubt but since you have emphasized on radio how you have been at this for TEN years, I dare say you have no excuse for apathy or ignorance.
Councillors have bandied around derogatory labels like “conspiracy theory” and “right wing Fascism” towards opponents of SMART Cities, whilst ironically ignoring the deep Nazi roots and history of Klaus Schwab and his family under Hitler’s Germany.
So, what part is the “conspiracy theory” then? That Schwab has boasted “infiltrating” governments? That he promises that we will “Own nothing and be happy”? That Schwab wants the World Economic Forum to rule over every aspect of our lives, across every continent? If you don’t believe any of that and that it’s all just a “conspiracy theory” to you, then clearly you’re not paying attention, but none of you on this Council can be excused for your own ignorance or apathy. You are being paid to know this and if you don’t know it, please do your research.
So, why then is Council following a known Nazi and his psychopathic Oligarchs and advisers like Yuval Noah Harari who wants to “hack” humans and gather all their biometric data?
Most particularly, it is very apparent that Councils bullying and intimidation of residents exercising their free and democratic right to be heard has been met with lame and pathetic claims of feeling threatened, as demonstrated by the call for police protection made by the Mayor of Onkaparinga after she deliberately turned off the volume to prevent the public from witnessing the proceedings and engaging in their right to civic participation. Incidentally, as of a few days ago, no one had been charged with any offence from that night, so I have no idea what crime allegedly occurred to warrant the media sensationalism.
Now we see this Council allegedly fearing public consultation enough to call in police, but not before trying to smear two of your very own with the innuendo of posing a threat to public safety by virtue of what? Participating in a community education campaign? Why? What are you afraid of? Having to let go of a rotten political ideology that has seen millions slaughtered less than a century ago for the simple right to be free of oppression and tyranny brought upon them by the same ideologues behind the WEF & UN?
If you would rather align your values with Schwab and his oligarchs than the citizens of this beautiful town, then shame on you.
So, my question is “What objections do you have to residents and ratepayers demanding that Council must not be permitted to strip them of their Constitutional rights, civil liberties and freedoms?”.
Why would anyone here tonight have any difficulty with affirming a motion that Council will never engage in the tracking, tracing and/or monitoring of its residents or subject its residents to the risk of theft, sale and/or trade of their personal information or data? Well, we know why don’t we!? We saw that during two years of lockdown.
Be that as it may, under The Internet of Things (IoT), SMART Cities will make possible even your fridge, kettle and toaster to track, monitor and surveil your movements, conversations and whereabouts. IoT promises to do this to everyone, everywhere, all the time.
Council cannot feign ignorance when it’s Climate Emergency necessitates the full implementation of Digital IDs, use of Blockchain and Facial Recognition technologies, alongside of microphones, sensors, cameras and more. Yet, I would bet that if I pulled out a video camera to record you tonight you’d howl me down and deny me that opportunity, as Deputy Mayor was reprimanded in 2015, from recollections. In fact, youd see that as an act of provocation, right? But it is our right to observe you; not your right to spy on us. We do not serve you, you serve us!
But now we see it is absolutely Council’s intention to do the very opposite of protecting the human rights of residents. It’s flipping the birdie and treating residents with utmost contempt.
And in so doing Council is opening the back door and inviting the WEF to bring in through the back that which it never could legitimately bring in through the front.
Cr Grenfell has previously expressed great enthusiasm and zeal that Salisbury businesses might be able to gather (allegedly “anonymously” of course) information and data about, say, the demographics of their customers but by what right does Council think it can do so legitimately? That’s not Councils role nor prerogative.
I want Council out of my life and out of my personal affairs. And I damn well object to my rates being used to police honest, innocent people.