The majority of the Australian population would agree with the introduction of such laws. It is the minority (such as those of us here) who disagree. So the people have been "heard" and they are getting what they want. It's the rest of us who suffer.
Is that true? It seems like this was more of a complete non-issue in the last election, suddenly implemented once Labor secured power again. I'm not saying your hypothetical popular support is unrealistic, but I don't think anybody actively voted for this.
Living in Australia has been eye opening. I naïvely assumed that mandatory, ranked-choice voting would draw a direct line from popular sentiment to legislative outcome, but that's anything but the case.
> I'm not saying your hypothetical popular support is unrealistic, but I don't think anybody actively voted for this.
Nobody "voted" for this specifically, but every source I have seen says such initiatives are widely supported by the populace. Such as for instance the <16 under social media ban which enjoys very wide support.
The average australian does not see the internet like you and I do. They see it as just another threat, and one that should be reigned in. Don't get me wrong, I hate this and everything about it, but nobody (rightfully) cares what I think, because i'm a childless nobody who is in the minority on such things.
I think Australia should go back to the French submarine deal and fuck the AUKUS thing out the window.
Opinion mostly based on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px9qhDGv300&t=688s (and, of course, the US now being essentially a rogue state, and it'll take significant structural change to fix that).
Theoretically: Vote for parties that are not actively hostile towards the people.
Practically: nothing.
Democracy has largely failed and in many countries you can, at best, pick between right wing assholes that work against your best interests and leftwing idiots that work against your best interests.
Some of the smaller ones have some tech savvy, but they're a long way off making any kind of a dent, and also seem to be going backwards in popularity.