What happened to free speech?

A few weeks ago, Dutch MP Geert Wilders applied for a visa to visit Australia to speak at a series of meetings organised by Q Society.

Although his staff had been granted visas, no visa had been granted (or refused) for Geert. With the tour scheduled for mid-October, time was running out. A letter campaign and an Open Letter from Q Society were organised.  

Until yesterday, a 'visa' for Geert Wilders had not been issued. Last night, Q Society, which is hosting the tour, announced it would put out a Media Release tomorrow - stating that the tour has now been postponed until the third week of February 2013, due to the problems of obtaining a visa for Geert Wilders.  

Paul Sheehan had an insightful article in the SMH about this lack of 'liberalism' re the visa.
Visa insult a betrayal of liberalism SMH, October 1, 2012. 

TODAY, the government has announced that they will not 'block' a visa for Geert Wilders!

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has now said he will not block a visa - but has written an Opinion piece in The Australian saying he disagrees with Geert Wilders views which are "offensive".  
Nothing to gain from Wilders ban by: Chris Bowen 
From: The Australian October 02, 2012
"GEERT Wilders is wrong. His views are offensive. To read his writings is to be struck by their ignorance and their wrongheaded views of other people's beliefs. It has been accurately reported in recent weeks that the Dutch far-right politician and anti-Islamist has applied for a visa to undertake speaking engagements in Australia...."
Media Report in The Australian about Mr Bowen's article. Critic of Islam Geert Wilders in line for visit visa 2/10/2012.  

The question we ask is, why did Mr Bowen readily grant a visa to Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Taji Mustafa....