In my not so humble opinion Scot Ludlum and the Greens have done more to take away the personal responsibility and human rights of Australians than anybody else. Seeing his quote at the top of this article is food for apoplexy. As for the main article, it is mostly undiluted rubbish. We are in a war and survival is more important than being politically correct in a nanny state with no real future. Biony would most likely find a great deal of difficulty publishing his views if he were employed by a university in an Islamic nation.

Hello everyone,
Arjay - I heard somewhere that Germany wants to join BRICS

I for one don't like being treated like a criminal and this is precisely how these laws treat all of us - as potential criminals. At the same time as the government wants to know all what we are doing, they are becoming more secretive about what they do.

These new laws will allow ASIO to spy on all of us, but with minimal oversight, and journalists will be reluctant to report potential wrongdoing as the government refused to include the "public interest" as a defense.

Do not fall for the line that "If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide" This is naive in the extreme. Does no one remember the open letters of brave Israeli military who refused to spy on non-terror suspects in Palestine? They reported that private information such as health issues, financial issues, infidelity etc were used to blackmail individuals to become informers etc.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/12/israeli-intelligence-reservists-refuse-serve-palestinian-territories

Note that even the Israelis who have experienced far more terrorism than we have, do not allow blanket surveillance of their citizens.

We have laws to punish those who would do us harm. Our security agencies must be able to investigate suspects, but not at the expense of the freedoms our forebears fought and died for.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. These surveillance powers do not belong in a free and democratic society.

"...We are in a war and survival is more important than being politically correct in a nanny state with no real future..."

No we're bloody not...we are sticking our bibs in to assist the US in the MIddle-East - and Abbott has used (and blown out of all proportion) the threat to this country domestically by terrorism.

With the aid of the media (who appear to have shot themselves in the foot on this one) we're being somehow led to believe the ISIL insurgency is somehow equivalent to WWII - and we're all in mortal danger.

Shifty govts often use such confected threat to dilute the freedoms of its citizens. They rely on panicking the populace, and the simple but gullible belief of the people that their govt will act in their best interests.

Most govts will.

Some govts don't.

Do you reckon this new Mspy surveillance product, for the whole family and your employer, should be legal or illegal?

Summarised here http://youtu.be/SWEAY41EPQs

Capabilities are:

"Mspy is an absolutely undetectable and user-friendly tablet and mobile phone tracking software solution that allows you to access the target device's text messages, call history, e-mails, GPS location and more from any web browser. mSpy comes with a cross-platform functionality that allows the software to run on different types of devices such as Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile.

The software allows the user to execute the following operations:

• Track all SMS
• Record calls
• Track emails
• Monitor all Skype conversations
• Track WhatsApp
• Monitor GPS locations
• Record browsing history
• Access the Address Book
• Access all multimedia files
• Remotely record conversations around the target device
• View call history
• .. and much more"

Maybe new security or privacy legislation should ban its commercial use in Australia?

Archair, welcome to the site. At least some people have the courage to speak the truth. It is indeed strange that we will have more oppressive laws than Israel when we have such a peaceful country

Yes I've heard from several including James Rickards that Germany is siding with the BRICS. This will be a big game changer if it comes to full realisation. The BRICS is made up of over 100 countries and now have their own Development Bank which eventually will back its currency with gold. China is thought to have 4500 tons of gold and Russia about 2000 tons. Many doubt the USA has any.We have almost none, yet are the 3rd largest producer on the planet.

Our pollies just do as they are told and roll over on command. This legislation will be rubber stamped by Labor in the Senate.

The Western psychopathic Oligarchs are in panic mode and this makes them very dangerous,both to us and themselves. War is now their only tool of winning as our economies have been destroyed by money printing and derivative gambling.