We Call on the Federal Government
At a meeting on 10 November, Australia’s state attorneys-general demanded immediate justice for Australian terrorism suspect David Hicks. Under what they are calling the Fremantle Declaration, the attorneys-general called on all Australian governments to uphold the right to a fair trial, the principle of habeas corpus, the prohibition on indefinite detention without trial, the prohibition of torture, access to rights under the Geneva Convention, the separation of powers and the prohibition of the death penalty. All Australian attorneys-general except Philip Ruddock signed the declaration. The Declaration reiterates Australia’s obligations under international human rights treaties. Australia is a party to those treaties. They set out the baseline measure of decent treatment of human beings. The Fremantle Declaration is a clear statement of values which are basic to Australian society. Mr Ruddock is not a signatory to the Fremantle Declaration. He and the Howard government are in flagrant breach of its principles. The Fremantle Declaration sets out principles which should be embraced by all civilised people. We call on Phillip Ruddock to sign it. We call on the federal government to embrace it.
A note from Malcolm Fraser: The policy of this website is to promote debate and understanding of the issues involving an open society on the one hand, and racism or discrimination on the other. Our policy is broadly to publish all comments on Talking Points that come in, subject to space, repetition, common decency and subject to names and addresses being provided. Contrary points of view will certainly be given place. This is mentioned in particular because in relation to this Talking Point, nobody has sought to give an articulate defence of the position held by the government. This needs to be made clear, lest there was a belief that comments were being filtered to provide only one view. That is certainly not the case. Many may find it surprising that on this issue, nobody has defended the government.
Articles
David Hicks has done more than his fair share of time in prison for something we still don’t know if he is guilty or innocent of.
Regardless, no one should be kept in detention like this and if this were to occur in Australia we would be outraged and there would be a huge outcry of injustice. Let’s cut the hypocrisy and political stagnation and bring David home.
David Hicks should be freed and bought home immediatley or be charged.
The USA are not an example of the kind of democracy we expect in Australia and to continue supporting this war is nothing other than absolutley outragious.Also our troops should be brought home without delay.
David Hicks has been held illegally for far too long. The attitude to Australians held overseas by this government is appalling. Bush has just received his slap in the face roll on the election.
I have read somewhere that if David Hicks is sentenced to, say, 10 years then the 5 that he has aready spent in detention would not be deducted from the 10 year sentence. How much do the government need to punish this man - hasn’t he been punished enough yet?
The face of this nation should be hidden for the shameful way the government has treated David Hicks. By doing nothing to bring him home, it condones his appalling treatment in a foreign prison. This is not the action of a nation where a “fair go” for all has been the ‘norm’. SHAME on the Federal Government.
While there’s an absence of surprise that Philip Ruddock walked away from another opportunity to demonstrate that blood, not ice, flows through his veins, there is no absence of disappointment. Perhaps we should inundate the Australian Political Exchange Council with requests to swap Ruddock, a politician without heart, for Hicks, a prisoner without hope.
Surely the Australian Government can do better than merely saying that, after five years of detention, they will ask America to promptly deal with the Hicks case. Five years means that it is impossible that Hicks’ case can be dealt with promptly, or satisfactorily. W must demand better from our elected officials.
Looking at Philip Ruddock’s term as Immigration Minister, it is not surprising at his lack of respect for the rights of David Hicks. It will be interesting to see the results of the court case against Runsfeld in Germany (if it gets to court). Maybe Ruddock will be next.
I’m ashamed to be an Australian in light of what’s happening to our fellow citizens these days.
God help me if I found myself in trouble overseas and at the mercy of our callous Howard government!
What’s at stake here? Not much?
• Rule of Law
• The right to a speedy trial
• The right to a jury of your peers
• Freedom from torture
• The presumption of innocence
• The separation of powers
When I was a lad we understood that “Truth, Justice & the American way” stood for these things. The man of steel told us so.
David Hicks has received none of these. He is an Australian held in a third country by a foreign military without trial.
His government, our government, does nothing to ensure that he receives his truth or his justice. Our government just ensures that he gets the American way.
Bring him home and try him under Australian law. Sadly we are only led by the “men of straw”. Damn Kryptonite must have got them. . . . .
I am not trained in law, but as a citizen with rights to free speech, I beg for basic human rights and justice for this confused young Australian who made a mistake.
Australian All - “Thank God You’re Here!” : for David Hicks, asylum seekers, indigenous peoples, Aussies of all religions or none, disillusioned, depressed Aussies, for truth and justice in our fair country with boundless plains to share…
Are we surprised that Phillip Ruddock,who as Minister for Immigration was involved in the wholesale abuse of children does not support human rights? Or that John Howard who was going to govern “for all Australians” was delivering another “non-core promise?” It’s time to vote the bastards out! Australia needs to be a country which supports all of its citizens–especially political prisoners like David Hicks.
Bring David Hicks home now.
How dangerous must the man be having spent 5 years in a cage! Our government must demand his release.
I thought the reason for the war on terror was to protect our system of justice. With Hicks we have thrown the rules out the window. I am ashamed of our federal government.
Like almost everyone else, I have no idea if David Hicks is guilty or innocent of materially supporting extremist bigoted violence. However, the Australian government, by failing to push hard for a speedy and fair trial, has not acted in the best interests of the Australian people, because it has
(1) no doubt hardened his attitude irreparably: if he was not totally “anti-West” five years ago, he certainly is now, and justifiably so;
(2) made him into a hero, even though he may not (as only a fair trial can prove) deserve it.
Howard, Downer and Ruddock deserve to spend some time in Guantanamo to find out directly if the abuse of sleep prevention is a form or torture or not…
But David Hicks must come back ASAP.
Shame Australian Government !
I am not ashamed to be an Australian, this is the best country in the world but i am ashamed of our current political leaders. They do not seem to understand the word justice and all that it implies. David Hicks imprisonment is unfair and unjust and merely a pathetic toadying exercise to the USA.
Regardless of whether or not David Hicks is guilty of any crimes the process undertaken by those in authority is abysmal and a violation of human rights and basic human decency. Every Australian needs to remember that if they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, like M. Habib, then you will be left to rot in a prison so the Australian government can continue their ‘lovefest’ with one of the worst American governments on record. Even the American people have seen the light. I am sometimes ashamed to be Australian. John Howard and his merry men will go down in history as a government who, although they espouse to be Christians, have no compassion or interest in human rights.
The fact that David Hicks has now been “in custody” for 5 years without charge MUST be an indication that the US government has no evidence of his alleged crime/s. It is illegal under every other sircumstance to hold anyone without charge for so long, so how/why do the rights of others not apply to this man?
Here’s hoping that the children of our esteemed leaders never find themselves in a situation where they need the assistance of the Australian government to get them out of a jam, the way that the son of Terry Hicks has. There was a time - not so long ago - when Australia was regarded by most countries as one of the great ones. Now we are regarded internationally as a lap-dog to the US, and seem to be treated as a bit of a joke. The only thing this blind allegiance to the US has improved is our visibility on the terrorism radar. Hang your head, Mr Howard.
Australia, I no longer recognise you. This is not just about Howard, Downer or Ruddock. Sadly, it’s about the majority of Australians who continue to vote these dreadful politicians into office time and again.
The David Hicks saga epitomises all that is causing such a lingering stench over our once wonderful nation and making us a sham democracy.
And now . . . we abandon West Papua.
It beggars belief that David Hicks can be acknowledged as having broken no Australian Law at the time of the behaviour which now sees him incarcerated and tortured ; but is beyond help from his government.
Shame Australia shame.
‘Justice delayed is justice denied’. David Hicks will never receive a fair trial at Guantanamo Bay so he must be brought home now. It is a tragedy that the Australia Government still refuses to see this
The treatment of David Hicks is a disgrace.
How do the Liberal Party have the gall to still call themselves that?
A call for all Liberals to regain control of a once great party.
In Noam Chomsky’s words “The best way to combat terrorism, is to stop participating in it.”
I am utterly appalled, distressed and shocked by the inaction of the Howard,Downer,Ruddoch trio towards David Hicks and mystified as to the real reasons for leaving David where he is too. But they couldn’t behave as they do if the majority of Australians that put those three there time and again, cared enough to change their vote and kicked them out. The power of the people is at the ballot box.
This is much more important than party politics.
Now in my 70th year, I can still vividly recall the photos and reports in the press, of Nazi tortures. Later, those of the French Foreign Legion, in North Africa. The latter was virtually the same as the water torture that George Bush has OKd for the USA. I abhor any form of torture and all those who practice it or condone it. Historically, its use has only been counterproductive, as well as a violation of human rights. Bring David Hicks home.
John Howard calls himself a Christian. I would like to remind him that to be a Christian means to follow Christ. Then I would ask him “How would Christ treat David Hicks (and his fellow detainees for that matter)?”
If he is honest in his response David would be home.
I am constantly amazed that a free society such as we in Australia should allow our politicians who are there to serve us to flout common human decency by allowing David Hicks to rot in an American gaol without trial. Does not our Government know the meaning of Habeas Corpus?
Enough is enough. Our ‘masters’ should demand his return to Australia where he might be given a fair trial.
The Australian Government is in breach of many international conventions. It has made war on Iraq without any provocation from that country. In David Hicks’ case, it has deliberately ignored the rights of one of its citizens. The Australian Government supports the existence of the Guantanamo Bay concentration camp, against all of the Geneva conventions. Military prisoners taken in a war should be held in a prisoner of war camp, under conditions dictated by the Geneva Convention. The USA would have had the right to hold them until the war is over, but under the present situation the USA and Australia are clearly in the wrong.
The best thing about democracy is that eventually everyone gets their cumuppence. Messers (pun intended) Howard, Ruddock and Downer may feel invincible but in the end life has a way of squaring the ledger. I’m with Bill Ronald’s thoughts - most eloquently put, it’s the riding roughshod over the rule of law by three lawyers which worries me the most. What has happened to their sense of fair play? Its as though they have the drivers blindspot. Everyone following behind can see the bleeding obvious but not the drivers. The right course of action will eventually prevail so long as we all keep demanding it.
I think it is safe to say that no one leaving posts here, including myself, knows the full story of David hicks but he was caught in a war zone with the enemy and the only decent picture of him is with a rocket launcher on his shoulder. This being said, as an Australian Tax Payer i dont particularly want to help pay to get a man brought home when the US can give him a trial at their expense. I believe Mamdouh Habib was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and deserved to come home, unfortunately for David Hicks i dont think the same can be said. Everything seems to point to him being guilty, and if he did fire on Allied troops then he should spend a lot more than 5 years in jail. I believe he does deserve to have his trial sped up now but i do think he will be Guilty in the outcome. Thank You
I was once proud to be an Australian, but at present I feel ashamed for this Federal Government’s attitude to refugees and to the plight of David Hicks. It is a very UNAUSTRALIAN government which ignores the recognised AUSTRALIAN VALUE of ‘a fair go’.
Furthermore, many might see Australia as the 52nd state of the USA, awaiting direction rather than governing for ourselves.
It is one thing to be an ally, quite another to be a sycophant.
Let’s grow up.
It is a disgrace that the Australian government, MY government, continues to participate in this flagrant contravention of David Hicks’ human rights. Bring David home!
Its so sad when for political reasons, some of us let go of our morality, our basic human rights should be protected by our representatives in Canberra not put up for sale, to appease extreme right wing factions in the USA and in Australia.David Hicks is still in jail because John Howard is showing his support for
Having been associated with the Getup organisation only peripherally I am pleased to comment that your AA web page was pleasing to my moral ear and that made my dissatisfaction with the federal government’s take on the public’s expectations, particularly in regards to David Hicks, all the more severe. I am a mother and can only offer my heartfelt empathy to the Hicks family in their trial to receive the most basic of human justice.
I notice that Australia,USA, abuse and justice all involve “us”. Then let us remind our government of its duty of care to all Australians. This includes David Hicks, for whom humane action is dreadfully and disgracefully overdue.
I think that the message that emanates from the actions of Howard, Downer and Ruddock, (and people of their ilk), is that as far as they are concerned you will get no support from the Australian Government. They care more about pleasing the US than they do about protecting the civil and human rights of their own citizens.
Does that scare anyone?
I want so much to be proud of Australia but this country disappoints me more and more.
Oh well, lets hope voters show their anger at the next election. Fingers, toes and legs crossed…although I wont hold my breath.
I certainly agree with all the principles of “Australians All”! I too am in my 75th year, and can remember World War II, the Nazi tortures, and more personally the Japanese tortures while they occupied Manila (Philippines), [albeit because the soldiers were panicking (because they were very few in numbers compared to the locals], where I lived at the time! Yes, respect “Human Rights”!
I weep for my country. The Howard government has whipped up such a degree of hostility and outright vilification of so many groups of people that I am ashamed to call myself an Australian. The government has - for its own short-term benefit - stirred up racism, xenophobia and intolerance and we have become much the poorer for it. Australia, once the land that proudly gave everybody a ‘fair go’, has become the one of the most intolerant and most unfair of all western nations. Shame on John Howard for kowtowing to the warmongers in the White House. Shame on Phillip Ruddock for having the nerve to say he is a member of Amnesty International. Shame on Alexander Downer for having such a blinkered view of the pain and suffering his government has helped cause in so many places - especially Iraq. We as a people can not - must not - live with the lie that we are now safer than before we invaded Iraq. We must continue protesting in the strongest terms possible; this lunacy must stop.
What could Philip Ruddock’s rationale possibly be for not joining other decent Australians in reiterating his conviction to basic human rights for everyone?
I really think some people have been in politics too long. If Ruddock thinks it is more important for him to save his friend John from being embarrassed, than it is to stop torture and imprisonment without charge, I think he’s just lost it.
We call on the Federal government to speak up on the basic human rights outlined in the Fremantle Declaration. I also call on the government to stop making our country an international embarrassment by selling out one of our own citizens because we are too scared of upsetting America. Weak, weak, weak…
Do not be ashamed to be Australian. It is the 3 stooges - Howard, Ruddock and Downer - who are UN-Australian. These 3 do not fit the profile of a true Aussie. They know nothing of mateship and loyalty to a fellow Aussie.
Responding to 33 by E. Johnson, the picture you refer to was posed and cropped. If you had watched the wonderful interview Andrew Denton did with Dante (Michael) Mori, (David’s lawyer) you would know the picture was taken in non-combat conditions. One of the other men in the photo was leaning on his rifle and the rocket launcher had been dismantled and was missing the launching mechanism. The launcher was empty and unworkable.
Our Federal Government has abandoned many Aussies in trouble - Nguyen Van Tuong, Schappelle Corby, David Hicks etc. They make better lap dogs, than politicians.
If this is Australians All, why cant others join the group? Surely a group that defines its existence around issues of equality should not be elitist in its membership?
it to Mr. Ruddock. 9 years on I still have received no acknowledgement apart from a letter from Downer several months ago - it’s too bad, we’ve lost/destroyed our records, and we don’t believe you. I have not had a single positive response from a single pollie. In simplistic terms, if I am white, blonde haired and blue eyed, speak with a distinct aussie accent and am lucky enough to purchase the time of a high powered silk to fight for my rights then I am counted as worthy, if on the other hand you are as I am, Black, neutral accent, working class Australian woman then my rights as a “Human” are not counted. David Hicks I fear for you.
Australians All let us imagine how the United States government would react if one of its citizens was held in Australian prison, without trial, for five years? Perhaps Mr Ruddock could glean some ideas to resolve the outrage of David Hicks’ situation if he used his imagination.
I agree with Pauline. Can we have an explanation please as to why membership is closed? Can’t we be affiliates?
Well done Australians All.
This site is much needed and ovedue.
Given the preciousness of each life as the vehicle for enjoyment and contentment, no idea (even our precious Western Democracy) is worth going to war over. Around the world we are, first and foremost, Human Beings All.
Tyn Receveur
Solicitor
Tasmania
Policticans always present a spin on the facts of a given situation, to suit their aims. When the facts turn out different, it exposes their intrinsic deceit and the last thing they will do is admit it. David Hicks is still in Guantanamo Bay because Howard and co are still in government. They’re long overdue to be voted out.
If you would not trust a crocodile why would you trust John Howard [and Phillip Ruddock]. Wasn’t Howard’s campaign slogan in the last election “TRUST ME”?
How can the Australian electorate continue to allow themselves to be hoodwinked by these political pariahs?
I am so not suprised at the lack of response that David Hicks is recieving from any member of this government they refuse to help the original owners of this land so how do you expect them to actually get anything done for some one who is out of site out of mind? Human life is less valued to these men and a lightin blot would not wake them. My prayers are with David and his family may your hope and faith stay strong and the love from us to you never stop stay strong David.
I am not a Buddhist but I do believe in their approach to such problems as we have with our Gov. in its attitude to David Hicks. To David and his oppressors,each day I send positive energy in this form-
May you be filled with loving kindness and compassion.
May you forgive and be forgiven.
May you be healed.
May you be happy and at peace
…Daniella has a point. Australia’s ‘culture’ has reverted to its white anglo colonial type!It is so easy, and we can be bought so cheaply!
Terra Nullius indeed!
While David Hicks remains captive - indeed caged - without trial or basic human rights in Guantanamo, I believe we as a nation can not call ourselves free.
Sadly, in a democracy we get the government we chose.
If our elected leaders can do this to one Australian, it can happen to us all.
A very slippery slope lays before us, David Hicks today, whom amongst us next?
This mockery of justice shames us all.
Bring him home.
Shame on the Bush administration! Shame on the Howard aministration! It is disgusting for countries that call themselves democratic,support the rights of the individual and freedom of speech, to imprison any person without trial for years on end. We seem to be adopting the pernicious practices of regimes that were loudly condemned not so long ago. Whether David Hicks is innocent or guilty he is entitled to a fair trial and should be brought back to Australia. All other prisoners in Guatanamo Bay need to be either charged or released. Think of the pain and anguish that their families are experiencing! Also what is the United Nations doing to close Guatanamo Bay and get the prisoners repatriated?
I find it difficult to forget the plight of David Hicks. It intrudes into my thoughts at unexpected times.
How does Mr Howard feel I wonder? He studied law in his youth and I wonder if he ever come across details of how Habeus Corpus was won as a right.
No matter what David Hicks did or did not do, he is entitled to be charged and his case heard in a public place.
Howard and many of his ministers have the blood of many people on their hands, David Hicks does not. Bring him home now, and then bring the Howard Government to account for their crimes against humanity.
Butterfly effect-let us resolve to speak of this attrocity to at least 1 person each day until his release.
Howard is only as strong as our objections are silent.
We must free the Iraqi people from their tyranny, I hear them say. But upon their arrival to these shores, we must turn them away? We must fight terror, but to punish, we consent to torture? Come On Howard, Downer and Ruddock. We, the people are not blind, not mute.
The denial of justice to David Hicks has diminished us all.
David Hicks has been given a psychological pounding that stuns the sanity of the victim and destroys all trust in the decency of the Australian government.
Who but politicians with a blinkered approach to a nation’s culture would expect that an Eastern tribal culture would overnight accept a Western concept of democracy and would convert to it overnight after a Western invasion? Attempts to introduce democracy have failed in every African State, so why would it succeed in Iraq?
Howard and Ruddock both state that Hicks has broken no AUS law, and could not be charged here. It could be argued that USA was illegally holding Hicks since they were invading the country on whose behalf he was allegedly fighting.
Howrd/Ruddock’s position is copying business practice of send work off-shore, but in this case it is AUS justice on trial.
They have been quick to offer support and diplomtic help for drug dealers and fools who don’t read the rules of the country they are entering, particulary if they cry prettily
Everyone deserves a fair go. It is the basis of values and human rights. We all need to take a good look at ourselves. When Francis of Assisi took a look at himself, he was so appalled he totally rejected his wealth & position to assist the dispossesed. We all need to take a good look at ourselves and our behaviour, or lack of it, when people like Hicks get offered up on the altars of power and cringe. Stand up Aussies! Speak your piece when having a beer, around the water coolers, coffee tables, barbecues and bars,in trams and trains, buses and planes, on the way to work and home again. Wake up & speak up Australians & freedom lovong people everywhere. Your country and your world need you.
I am delighted that you have established this website. It is sorely needed.
John Howard has, in the ten years he has been in office, changed our country from “a fair go for all” country to a vicious, mean, and selfish nation.His credo is “Greed is good”. Tough if you are not a high performer in the business world.
Altruism is a word he is totally ignorant of!
After reading a smattering of the sixty-five responses here, it seems to me that the majority of the posters here confuse their distress with David Hicks treatment at Guantamo with their idealogical hatred of John Howard, Phillip Ruddock and all of the Liberal Party. I too would have liked to have seen David Hicks’ justice dealt with expeditiously, but I do not see how it is to be achieved by a bunch of Howard-haters.
It is so hard to believe that when I swore allegiance to Australian citizenship in 1985 that our country could be responsible for creating so much human suffering: for David Hicks, refugees,Australians who have been dumped in birth countries, mentally ill deported… I will have to get a British passport to go with my Australian passport when I go travelling in the near future because if something terror/ble happened and I was wrongfully accused I can’t rely that my government would protect me, and bring me back home.
Bring David Hicks home before you murder him Howard & Co.
What a pleasure to see an expanding wave of subverts!
But let’s not muck about..the core of the issue is surely a battle of ideas and the fact that millions of people have fantastical, oppositional beliefs propagated by religions everywhere. Yes, AustraliansAll (but what about HumanBeingsAll). Let’s get back to what we all truly have in common: Aliveness - then we can scrap all the divisive and mad beliefs currently driving the train.
See “The End of Faith” by Sam Harris.
The treatment of David Hicks by the morally bankrupt Howard government is absolutely reprehensible. Never have I been more ashamed of the government of Australia. I hope that Mr Howard & his minsisters will one day have enough grace & humility to be ashamed of themselves. Alas maybe that is a forlorn hope.
After ten years of Howard’s Government it is indeed a sad day for Australia when there is even a necessity for websites such as yours. But thankyou, we must fight the cancer that is consuming our country and fight for justice for every Australian.
I am ashamed of our Government. David Hicks should be brought to trial or released. He is Australia’s shame. He is our Dreyfus.
Even if he were guilty surely he has suffered enough.
To those who believe that Howard et all are the problem - have a look at how they backflipped once the media started taking notice of Climate Change.
It is not All Australians but the majority vote that drives politicians. The vote is driven by the media and the media is created by people. Commentators, journalists and editors manufacture opinion on these issues but they must get their material from somewhere, including sites like this. Keep spreading the word of AustraliansAll.com.au, GetUp.org.au etc and perticipate in debates and demonstrations. Be heard and vote well, or they will do the talking for you.
simply … what happened to the important right of all people - innocent until proved guilty! (not forgetting Habeas corpus!)
All my life I have been proud to be Australian. Now at 71 years of age I am not.
Thank you for this site and the Fremantle Declaration. Sadly, it may be too little too late. Australia is not the Australia I grew up in in the ’60s and ’70s.
Sadly this loss of civil liberties fits perfectly with Howard’s “aspirational Australians image”. Howard’s Australians are selfish and almost deliberatly ignorant of anything outside their immediate personal gratification.
Such a selfish society is easier to control and manipulate.
I am ashamed to live in the modern Australia, its values and mores are vile and not at all like those of our immediate past.
“Reform” and “progress” do not mean improvements. Not all change is good. Howard’s changes to Australia have been disastrous.
According to the “founding fathers” of the US Declaration of Independence,
“…we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That, to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . .”
I emphasise “FROM THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED”. We put Howard and his cronies in: it’s time we did something about getting them out.
Our own fathers of federation held similar views regarding freedom and liberty. But have a look at the link below and decide for yourself whether our elected government is not only believing its own press but also living by it. I don’t think so. http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/culturally_diverse.html
Unfortunately our “democracy” is vulnerable to the dictatorship of the majority, which encourages callous them-and-us wedge politics. David Hicks has become road-kill in this sordid process here and in the US. The federal opposition has generally been too lily-livered to take a stand on principle. It is gratifying to see the state attorneys-general stepping in to fill the gap. Congratulations too to Julian Burnside and other persons of principle who have become involved, such as the convenors of this Australians All website, those responsible for the GetUp campaigns and the New Matilda team.
GF Handel and his librettist Isiah (53:6) said it “All we like sheep are led astray”.
Where is the political leadership in Australia to offer to lead us back into what we used to have - Habeus Corpus, a fair go for everyone and a free ABC?
That would get my vote
My anger at our current situation ios divided reasonably evenly between both Labor and the Conservatives. At Howard et al because they have no idea of the rule of law, democracy etc, etc, etc, but he has been allowed to get away with it because the Labor Party has been totally gutless about condemning him. If they’d stood up at the time of Tampa and protested at the un-Austalian-ness of what was happening and provided an actual alternative, they would probably have won the last election. They should get rid of Beasley and actually find some policies reminiscent of the Labor Party.
AustraliansAll is a welcome addition to net activism and a chance to read the thoughts of my hero, Julian Burnside QC.
If David Hicks has not been charged with any crime in the US and has broken no Australian law, why has he spent a horrendous five years of his young life imprisoned, mostly in solitary confinement?
Thanks and respect to Major Mori, for his support of David abandoned by his own Australian government.
And above all thanks to GetUp for the chance to participate meaningfully in Australian political life.
Now if there could just be more women’s names among the members, articles and comments - the photo of the protest shows at least half the attendees are women.
Julian say it as it is. So many rights lost and ourelected “leaders” do nothing. I feel nothing but shame when I hear them speak about David Hicks. Declared by our government as guilty before trial.
About 20 years ago I became an Australian citizen, and received my certificare with pride. Now I am not so sure.
Being an Australian citizen has proved meaningless to David Hicks.
John Howard now designates the Ministry of Immigration and Citizenship as though we have to pass a test of Australian Values (i.e. Liberal Part values).
To me, Terry Hicks exemplifies Australian values, far more than Howard, Downer, Ruddock or any of their complacent followers.
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