Since when does mass opinion equate to good policy?

I only ask because today we discover that "A new poll has found overwhelming support for the Government's internet filter."

Yep - and there are pink fairies at the bottom of Senator Conroy's garden too.

Of course it is possible to get the result you want by asking the questions that people will respond to - and which pander to their inbuilt bias or prejudice or ignorance.

It is much harder to ensure a scientific based poll where respondents are properly informed about the subject before being asked the question.

There is a sad trendency in this country to rush to develop public policy based on the results of these "polls". And all that means is we end up with dud policy. Just like we will with this issue.

Now if these "pollsters" had informed their "respondents" that the "filter" will be based on a blacklist that is secret and that legitimate content will be "filtered" along with all the bad stuff - then many would likely have a different response.

There are other big issues here that seem to somehow have been reduced to a simplistic view of what is "good" and "bad". Now this obfuscation might help Senator Conroy get his filter up but it will do nothing for the debate and will probably guarantee that we end up with poor policy.

I remember that many of the people now opposing this censorship scheme were also against a scheme of the previous government - called "WorkChoices". My guess is that the medium term results of both will be similar.