I HAVE never been so frightened for our freedom of speech than I am right now.

No, I'm not talking about my own legal troubles, with a court being asked to ban my published columns on how some people claim a "racial" identity.

No, far more chilling - because it was so shamelessly explicit - was the promise made by Greens deputy leader Christine Milne on Monday to punish newspapers which publish articles sceptical of global warming and critical of the Gillard Government.

To hear what she said on the ABC's Q&A program in supposedly free and democratic Australia, after all the lessons we thought we'd learnt from Stalinist Russia and fascist Germany, is staggering.

And even more frightening is that it seemed so ... natural. So in keeping with the inclinations of this Government and the growing authoritarianism of our times.

Read for yourself Milne's detailed demand for political censorship and punishment of dissent, delivered on national television to an applauding audience:

"The Murdoch press has been running a very strong campaign against action on climate change.

"The bias is extreme, in The Australian in particular.

"You'll see column inch after column inch of every climate sceptic in the country ... You'll find day after day a real attempt at regime change...

"And one of the useful things about the hacking scandal in the UK is that it will lead to an inquiry into the media in Australia.

"We are at least going to see some real discussion ... around issues such as the level of ownership and dominance of the Murdoch press in several capital cities in Australia.

"We'll also have a look at a range of other issues, including who are fit and proper people into whether we need that test into people to be running media outlets. It's time we had a good inquiry and certainly bias is certainly going to be one of the things that's certainly to be looked at."

First know some things before I tell you exactly what Milne is demanding.

Know that Greens leader Bob Brown has already suggested this punishment for what he calls the "the hate media" - the Murdoch newspapers he says have been too critical of him and the Gillard Government he props up.

Here's his threat, earlier this month, when calling for an inquiry into newspapers: "I think there's quite a bit of concern I'm being fed from within the media ... about the narrow range of media opinion and the intrusion of opinion into news columns in sections of Australian media."

Know also that Prime Minister Julia Gillard has already agreed to consider this inquiry: "I anticipate we'll have a discussion amongst parliamentarians about this, about the best review and the best way of dealing with all of this."

Know that none of these politicians is talking about the Left-wing bias of, say, the ABC, The Age or The Sydney Morning Herald.

Know also that the Greens have huge sway over this hapless Prime Minister, this month erecting billboards boasting how it had made her hand over $10 billion for its pet renewable energy projects.

AND, finally, know that the Government has claimed since October that Murdoch newspapers are campaigning for "regime change", and has searched since for ways to intimidate it.

Let's now be very clear about what Milne, on behalf of Brown, is demanding.

Newspapers that criticise her global warming agenda or her political allies must face a government inquiry into "bias", which in fact means their coverage of issues on which the Greens want little debate.

Those newspapers could then be set new rules to be more "balanced", as defined by the Greens and Labor.

Their owners, if their name is "Rupert Murdoch", may also be forced to sell their newspapers to someone else, or shut them if there is no buyer.

People wanting to buy those newspapers or start their own may have to get, effectively, a licence from the Government, provided they can persuade it or its agents that they are "fit and proper" people - under a definition drawn up by the Greens and Labor.

See where this is going?

I would never have guessed, only a decade ago, that senior politicians in this country would so deliberately, vindictively and openly outline new rules on the media, explicitly aimed at stifling political opinions they do not like.

I would never have suspected that this country would hear such a naked threat to one of its most fundamental freedoms and say ... almost nothing.

For God's sake, prove me wrong.

Originally published as Milne's vow echoes Stalinist censorship