In its 2006 report ‘Fighting Words’, the Australian Law Reform Commission asserted: ‘[S]edition is quintessentially a “political” crime … used to criminalise expression that is critical of the established order. This has helped fuel concerns … that there is a potential for the law to over-reach, and to inhibit freedom of expression and free association.’

Sedition cases brought to trial over 1948–51 all involved Communist Party members. The last was that of W.F. (Bill) Burns who, like his predecessors, ultimately suffered defeat before the High Court on account of their perceived ‘fighting words’.

Nonetheless, as The Accidental Seditionist reveals, Bill’s case in particular brought legal consequences that reverberated powerfully. On a personal level, too, the impact on Bill and his family was significant.