To Julian Burnside QC

Sir... I need only to see your name on ANYTHING and I feel a wave of nausea and depression come to pass.

I'm a retired copper and a veteran. It is my sincere belief, that you and your genre have occasioned much irreparable harm to the morale and spirit of this great country and its citizens. Indeed, it would be impossible to quantify the degree of hurt and distress done to Australia's international reputation and standing, by some of your inane comments and views.

Australia's citizens are rendered powerless to rebut your absurd assertions, apropos YOUR perceptions of what you think civil liberties are all about. What about the rights, freedoms and liberties of the vast silent majority ? I suspect taking up the cudgel on their behalf (pro bono) would not generate sufficient media attention necessary to maintain your professional ego ?

We are living in dangerous and troubled times. Whatever one's political hues and affiliations are, we should confront our international problems collectively, and all move forward as a unified nation, not split in many parts, as now.

I remember well, when we returned in the dead of night, not being allowed to wear our uniforms, lest we 'upset' anti Vietnam War groups. Our welcome home parade along Sydney's George Street, where a female demonstrator felt the need to throw paint over our CO. I was never so ashamed of Australia as I was then, and I'm starting to head in that direction again, particularly when I see the type of gibberish you and your cohorts seek to promulgate herein.

Do me a favour at least, confine your disquisitional dross to some more appropriate 'Lefty' Labor forum.

Thank you.

Australia may not have its own Bill of Rights, but we do still have the 1698 Bill of Rights, which the Fed govt used in the late 90's to protect Parliamentary privilege.

I think that anything created when men were determined to protect the common rights of a country's citizens would be a remarkably more sound document that something created today, when it is both the Lib and Labor government's personal aim to remove our rights.

A Bill of Rights is well overdue and Australia is the last western democracy to have one. At the moment there are too many gaps where the Government just ignores the rights of ordinary Australians.

Admittedly, the High Court is also meant to represent Australians in interpreting the law. There is a problem of gender parity and no Aboriginal member on the High Court.

If there was a clause where there must be gender parity, so that half of our country: women, are represented, and at least one Aboriginal person selected by Parliament, accepted by official Aboriginal authorities as being at least partly Aboriginal, then we are closer to representing a broader spectrum on the High Court.

With a Bill of Rights, any Government assumes it has to follow this as law and for this to become a legal issue for the High Court should be rare. That is, unless the Government of the time does not believe in protecting the principles of basic human rights.

Sympathy to you, o sung wo, for the past wrongs that were inflicted on you and your comrades in arms. Such hurts are hard to heal.

But in damning Julian, you are only shooting the messenger. Anyone who had any dealing with the detainees in the detention camps can only be concerned with stand that this government has taken on human rights.

Why is it that a stateless man such as Peter Quasim has to spend years in detention and has to be mentally ill before he is released despite having the good will of dozens of Australians who would have sponsered him? Peter Quasim tried to leave Australia, he applied to over 100 countries to take him. They knocked him back, not because he was of bad character, but because they understandably couldn't understand why Australia didn't extend a hand to a stateless person.

The vast silent majority is about to vote Howard out. Maybe it's because they are bored with Howard. I think though, it's because they are tired of divisive politics. They want to get back to the comfortable Australia that Howard talks about but undermines, not one where fear is pushed and the community is divided.

I think the strong support for Dr. Haneef is a sign of that. We want a fair Australia and maybe a Bill of Rights will be part of that in the future.

"A Bill of Rights"?

The question is, whose "Rights" and whose "Wrongs"?

Quote:

The American formulation “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is not only familiar to us from TV dramas; it is a pretty fair reflection of our own assumptions. For most of us, the assumption remains untested.

Give me a break: America with its Bill of Rights: "the land of the free"? With more people imprisoned than any other country per head of population?

A state where corporation rights are more important than the corporate rights of individuals: all under a 'Bill of Rights'.

A place of prohibitions against behaviours accepted in many other 'free countries' ie prostitution is illegal in most US states. You may not like prostitution, but its prohibition is not what you would normally consider something that the state should get involved in. And this is in a country with a Bill of Rights.

The USA being a country of 'political freedom' where being a communist in the 1950s and 1960s lead to blacklisting and persecution: all under a "Bill of Rights".

Capital punishment in the USA - under a "Bill of Rights": of course.

A Bill of Rights has never protected anyone from the state's interpretation of what Rights are Right, and what Rights are Wrong.

I think some of us (including myself) have lunged at this in a fairly immature way. Some of us disturbed me no end. Some of us just galloped out on our favourite hobby-horses, firin' from the hip.

A bill of rights must be all inclusive. It must be much more than a stick to jam into the spokes of wayward politicians. By definition it must also serve as a reminder of the way we ought to regard one another. And maybe that's why there's insufficient enthusiasm for the idea on this thread, so far.

"Gee mister! You mean I might have to give up something? Huh?"

Yes indeed. A bill of rights has nothing to do with taking what is rightly mine. It's all about giving to you what is rightly yours. Get it? It sets the benchmark for a certain generousity of spirit. Maybe for some of us, that benchmark is too high.

But don't worry - we'll include you too...