Now's the time to get real about the erosion of civil liberties and justice in Australia.

Former Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, has established a website to highlight these issues (http://www.australiansall.com.au),

The political awareness group, GetUp, has called for affirmative action to publicly shame our politicians into action, over their broken promise to bring David Hicks home by November 1. (https://www.getup.org.au/secure/donatehicks.asp)

It's about time we, as Australians, stopped being comfortably numb and realised that the Howard government has overseen the most draconian social engineering of Australia since WWII. Our police and spooks have more legally backed power than the German SS during that war and the more recent Soviet Stazi.

This has to stop now!

Iluvator,

I disagree with you on David Hicks, but that’s by the by. What really amazes me is your claim that: “Our police and spooks have more legally backed power than the German SS during that war and the more recent Soviet Stazi.”

You are obviously anti-Howard Government, which is your right, but gross exaggeration and claiming that there is any similarity at all between the SS and Stazi and our police and security forces completely strips you of any credibility.

Further, Malcolm Fraser was an up-himself-arrogant elitist as Prime Minister. He would have walked over you and me without batting an eyelid. He certainly did not express the touchy-feely image he likes to project now, when he was PM.

Fraser had ideas, which, if you are sincere about Hicks, would be totally opposed to your own. Leopards don’t change their spots.

You seem rather confused mentioning Fraser and Get Up, an unofficial arm of the Labor Party, in the same context

Leigh,

Under current "terrorist" legislation a person can be detained for a period of at least 14 days without charge simply for being suspected of being involved contemplating a terrorist act. (So, in practice you could be arrested for simply saying, in public, someone should blow such-and-such a place up. (This was often an expression used by people of my father's generation - they'd all be locked in solitary confinement by now, under the watchful eye of ASIO, if they were alive!) This in itself is an erosion of civil liberties. The even more frightening part is that the detainee is unable to contact anyone about their detention. Go speak to your nearest holocaust survivor and ask them if that sounds familiar !

Indeed, in just writing this comment it may be construed seditious under current legislation and therefore incitement of acts against the government (another offence under new legislation). Indeed this government is very keen to shut down dissenting voices. If you want proof, see here (http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=16896
or
http://www.johnhowardpm.org/speechhistory.html)

So, to all readers... be careful what you write here Big "Johnny" Brother IS WATCHING. (At least until he and his cronies are out of office).

Actually,

Here's the speech that was put on the net. The one Howard SHOULD make.

http://www.johnhowardpm.org/originalspeech.html

If you believe that your 'justification' equates with SS and secret police tactics of totalitarian regimes, you have lost the plot, mate. Life must a a nightmare for you and anyone who thinks like you.

As I said - comfortably numb. Have a quiet think about how Australia has changed since Howard came to office.

It all started with the non-existent Weapons of Mass Destruction... how we were enlisted in a war (without a public plebiscite)... how the USA has sought to perpetrate its hegemony - I will not try to add to that since there is much material from very reliable sources on the Internet (unlike that for WMDs).

Even so, Australia is now embroiled in a "global war on terrorism". If we had not joined the "coalition of the willing" would we be under direct threat from terrorists? I think the answer to that can be found by looking at those countries who were not members of that elite club (e.g. New Zealand).

So, the Howard government has sought to put this country on a war footing with legislation which parallels those imposed under emergency law (during WWII) I have talked to some people who lived through that period and they concur that it feels similar (but without the food and petrol rationing). Those who were in the armed forces comment that one difference is that they don't have to carry their I.D. card (somewhat wryly they say it's their pension card now :-( )

So. My question is: Have our civil liberties been compromised? I think, yes.

However, my opinion is quite insignificant - there are many learned folk in the legal profession who have already raised the alarm over this, and the issue of David Hicks' detention. Are they wrong too?