[Ryan]

Police state fears over terrorism laws
October 16, 2005 - 4:03PM



Australia is moving towards a police state with harsh anti-terrorism laws that could be pushed through Parliament too quickly, the Law Council says.

Copies of the sweeping new laws, made available to the public by the ACT Government, have sparked concerns among legal experts.

The Government last week said it would introduce the laws to Parliament on October 31, but only allow the Senate one week to investigate them and report by November 8.

The Law Council of Australia said passing the proposed laws would push the nation closer to becoming a police state.

"We're moving down that path," council president John North told the Ten Network.

"The fact that the Government wanted to move these laws through Parliament with indecent haste and without letting us as a Law Council or other interested people have wide community consultation means that we're very concerned about them."

Under the bill, people who support insurgents can be jailed for up to seven years.

Australian Federal Police will also be able to carry out what are termed preventative detention orders, effectively locking up people thought to be involved or to have knowledge of a terrorist act.

Suspected terrorists who are detained by police will be able to ring loved ones but not tell them where they are, while judges can stop suspects from using the internet or telephones.

Mr North said he understood that people were frightened about terrorism, but civil liberties had to be protected.

"We understand that the people are scared, we understand that terrorism is the major, major issue, but we must not take away fundamental rights without asking our Government to assure us that we are going to be safe," he said.

The Law Council president said he was particularly concerned about shoot-to-kill provisions in the draft legislation, and the plan to allow children as young as 16 to be detained without charge for up to 14 days.

Mr North said he was worried about the reaction of the Government in the wake of the London bombings in July.

"Internationally it is really only lawyers who are trying to hold their governments to account at this stage," he said.

"We think the people will understand as soon as they start to see these laws misused and abused by our police and intelligence authorities."

AAP

[Mahmoud]

I keep thinking that i will wake up and realise that these excessively harsh laws were only a figment of my imagination, i guess no matter how hard i pinch im not waking up as such.

Could these really be making their way through??

[feen]

subhanallah, i dunno what else to say really

[Yasja786]

these are so ridiculous i cant even imagine them being passed..i have a lot to say about this matter but ill post tomorro coz my brains a bit outta whack atm...

[Russol]

this is preposterous ! ya allah, cant believe this... i mean read those laws... you cant tell someone u were in custody? when uve been missing for 14 days? !!! this is crazy

[Yasja786]

hahaha...imagine rockin up home after 14 days ur parents r goin nuts, theyre like omg omg where have u been?!?! ud be like...um...no where....at the moment i cant even comrehend that these laws r serious....

[Russol]

not only are these laws absurd, they're impractical

[aishahmoo]

paranoia and doubt is the root of all evil

[Mikhael]

lol, talk about the new-age appartheid

tell me where george bush ends and john horward begins, lol what a heap of trash, stagfirulah, Allah knows best and this is a test that we can overcome inshaAllah

salams

[Sandra]

If john howard can convince me that these laws are really gonna stop terrorism, without hurting anyone who is innocent, then im all for it.
but i doubt he can do that.
so much for "freedom" and "multicultural society" and "tolerent of other religions and races". psshh, i bet if a police officer saw this we would be held in custody for "ill will" coz apparently now, supporting terrorists..*cough*..*cough*..muslims, is against the law.

i noe this person who was coming back from sydney and the customs guy asked him wat was in his bag..and he goes..its a bomb! the airport went histerical, and held him in custody, the guy was only joking, but the officers didn't find it very funny. btw this guy isn't muslim, but he's arab. Now if sumone does that sorta thing, then yea, go ahead put them in custody, i aint got a problem with that, buh if ur gonna put sum1 in jail for sayin Allah Akbar or sumthing like that then ur gonna hav 2 get past me first!!

[aishahmoo]

I agree with Mikhael. This is the new age apartheid. The race/religion that people are now viewing with suspicion and fear is anyone Muslim. Too many a time, they tend to generalise that All Muslims Are Arabs. So they assume that you cannot be one without the other.

I have been a victim of many "cursory airport checks". The only difference is that since I wear the hijab, if they want to check my bag, it's in a small room. But it's ok. since I myself fear the bomb carrying Muslims.
Such laws may appear to stop terrorism...but as Micheal Moore (Palestine Sympathizer) says in his book "Stop terrorism by NO terrorizing, Mr Bush." I guess such laws like the detainement and all the random checks may mean more safety in the near future, but can this slippery slope situation last forever?