If you can accept the fact that defamation laws are a valid limit on free speech (which Australians have), then it follows that news organisations shouldn't be able to absolve themselves of all blame after posting inflammatory content, encouragng readers to "share their opinions" and failing to provide any sort of moderation whatsoever.
This law just specifies who is responsible for the laws being broken.
Do you see any issues with this?
Yes, in that you're just ignoring the comment you replied to and repeating the same incorrect nonsense.
Disagreeing with a law does not require breaking that law. You're perfectly welcome to disagree with the lockdowns in Victoria and NSW, and you can do that wherever you want. You're not welcome to break them.
what do you think the average Australian who disagrees with them should do
Looks to me like every other anti-free speech measure enacted in the last 5 years. Just remove comments so propaganda can't be countered by the people. Only the official proclamations can be allowed.
Quite often, I find comments many times more insightful than the news stories themselves. Losing them limits the value of news sites to me.
PS: You seem to hate comments and love limiting free speech yet here you are... commenting on news stories. Rules for thee, but not for me. How very hypocritical of you.