Is this what we want for our country?
The new security laws have virtually turned ASIO into a secret police. In recent days we have seen how the authorities dealt with Tony Tran, allegedly unlawfully detained for more than five years. We have heard of the case of Izhar-ul-Haque. ASIO’s activities in the latter case were roundly condemned by Justice Michael Adams from the bench. He accused ASIO of grossly improper conduct. If The Age report is accurate, it reads like the activities of a secret police in a dictatorship. That is not the Australia we know and love. We do not know how many people have been affected by such conduct because in many cases new laws prevent publication. We should be enraged by such behaviour and act to end it.
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There is a clear lesson from this - that when security authorities are given extreme powers, they will use them. The Government argued that these powers should be made available to ASIO for use in exceptional circumstances. But it would be hard to argue that Izhar-ul-Haque was an exceptional threat.
Three cheers for The Age, and the CEOs of the Australian media for their campaign “Australia’s Right to Know.”
The campaign is an unprecedented move by our leading media executives to try and reclaim open Government and freedom of speech in Australia.
Irene Moss’s findings of the decline of the Australian Press’s freedom goes hand in hand with ministers manipulating departments for their own electoral gain. For 5 years Mr Tran was abused, and only now are the details coming out.
An independent senate (from the government of the day) could possibly have curtailed many of these assaults on our basic rights.
All the more reason why voters should consider voting below the line on their senate ballot paper, and take ownership of their preferences.
Australia is becoming more like a police state and the incidents outlined plus the Haneef case and throw in the incompetence of the the Dept of Immigration by locking up and deporting Australian citizens, seems like a very dark farce.
I could not be more outraged at the treatment of Tony Tran. How much more of this filth have we as decent Australians got to put up with before we treat those who are responsible for this appalling behaviour as the criminals they are and locked away with no rights of release ever!! Of course, the government minister of the day will not have been informed, but is equally culpable as those who impose these appalling penalties on innocent people.
Malcolm, you say we should be outraged and act to end it. But what actions do you suggest we take? The problem with being angry at injustice is that unless it can be channelled into some positive steps which make a difference, it soon becomes powerlessness, and that makes people turn away and ignore the situation.
So can you can think of a few effective ways that we could act to end it?
Yesterday Australians made a historic decision, the magnitude of which saw John Howard lose his own seat in Parliament.
No doubt a more detailed analysis by political experts will follow, but it seems to me that Australians voted to reclaim Australia as a fair and tolerant country, well respected internationally where “a fair go for all” is our most cherished value.
We need to ensure now that Kevin Rudd fulfils those expectations.
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Malcolm,
Thank you for your guidance to me and fellow Australians with this discussion forum.
It was very much needed during the past few years.
You have demonstrated leadership from beyond official retirement when leadership was sadly lacking in this country.
I was personally delighted when you spoke out against the Iraq war at about the same time Senator Byrd, also an octogenarian, made a passionate and brilliant speech in the American Senate warning against illegal and unilateral action.
You have kept us on track by reaffirming those liberal democratic values which are the backbone of this country.
Thank you once again.
Alison Alloway
CAIRNS