The Juice Media

On 24 January 2017 TJM released a parody video called "Australia Day (Piracy parody)", which compared celebrating Australia Day on 26 January, when the First Fleet planted a flag on Australian shores, to celebrating several appalling historic events, including the "Final Solution" by Nazi Germany, dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and 11th of September attacks on the Twin Towers.[5][6] The video was a parody of the anti-piracy ad, "You Wouldn't Steal a Car".[6]

The video was released as part of the Change the Date campaign (represented by the hashtag #changethedate) which calls for changing the date of Australia Day by Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and wider community groups, because celebrating the date that marked the beginning of an invasion of others' land, which included many killings of Aboriginal Australians, is insensitive. The video incited a great deal of debate, especially on social media, including negative sentiments expressed especially at the comparison of 26 January to other historical dates.[6]

Commonwealth Coat of Arms (top) compared with the parody by The Juice Media

The Australien Coat of Harms was created as the backdrop to the fictitious Department of Genuine Satire for the Honest Government Adverts. There are a number of notable differences between the fictitious Coat of Harms and the Commonwealth Coat of Arms that it lampoons, including a stylised alien head replacing the Commonwealth star, the heads of the emu and kangaroo being replaced with surveillance cameras, the six state emblems on the shield have been replaced with a pirate ship, as well as the addition of the words "Not the Real Logo".

In September 2017, TJM received an e-mail from the Australian National Symbols Officer requesting that the use of the satirical logo no longer be used as they had received complaints from the members of the public about the logo.[9] Five days later a Bill was proposed to Australian parliament to amend the Criminal Code Act 1995, with the intention of introducing "new offences for a person recklessly or intentionally representing themselves to be, or to be acting on behalf of, or with the authority of, a Commonwealth entity or service"[10]

The case for the amendments to the Bill was presented in the Senate by the Attorney-General of Australia, George Brandis.[11] There were a number of public submissions to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee overseeing the proposed amendments.[12] Among the submissions were pieces from Australian Lawyers for Human Rights and Electronic Frontiers Australia, both of which expressed concerns about the Bill regarding freedom of speech, the lack of safeguards, and ambiguous wording in the Bill which could result in legal action being taken against critics and satirists.[13][14][15][16] This was a sentiment echoed by Greens MP Adam Bandt in a speech to parliament in which he addressed the topics of freedom of speech and the rights to "mercilessly troll government".[11] Senator Nick McKim stated "Where does this leave satire in Australia? Does it mean that figures such as Shaun Micallef, The Juice Media and The Chaser team, as well as upcoming comedians, will have to think twice before they crack jokes lest they find themselves on the stand or in the slammer?". McKim also commented that as Australian common law has never dealt with defining satire, those producing it "will be in the dark as to the potential limits of their jokes until a body of common law has been established".[17]

On 21 June 2018, the Criminal Code Amendment (Impersonating a Commonwealth Body) Bill 2017 was passed by both Houses and moved into law.[18][19] Those found to be in breach of the new amendment could face 2–5 years' imprisonment.[20]