[Deleted for abusive language.]

...
Police are not nice people. Some of them do have their heart in the right place; I played in a marching band for a few years with a decent policeman. But some Policemen are just thugs and bullies who get into the job because they like to wield authority over other people. For these sort of Policemen - who sadly seem to be in the majority - wise-guys who don't kowtow to their authority are the worst sort of criminal (even said wise-guy hasn't technically done anything illegal).

Saying "I'm a citizen, bugger off" or words to that effect is exactly the sort of thing that is likely to infuriate the petty bullies. What the Gestapo can, and will, do is gang up with some of their mates and kick seven kinds of shyt out of you - perhaps tase you if they really don't like the cut of your jib - then defend their actions after the fact with some flimsy pretext about 'resisting arrest' or 'carrying a (non-existent) concealed weapon' or whatever will get them off Scot-free for an assault that would normal citizens before the magistrate on assault & battery charges.

Dream On,

But you don't have to carry papers with you. And as Toni points out in the posts below mine, they have to have some reason to stop you, otherwise it would be profiling. Yes, if you are driving, you have to have your driver's licence on you: I got pinged last week for driving in a wayward manner, changing lanes too many times, and got a caution: fair enough. Luckily, I hadn't started my drinking session at that point.

So let's be clear about this storm in a thimble: nobody has the power to stop you for nothing; you don't have to carry papers with you; unless you are explicitly told that you have been stopped on suspicion of committing an offence, you don't even have to give your name etc.

Sorry to disappoint the pseudo-Left, and others looking for a stick to shove up Abbot's, but no, we're not heading towards a police state. ISIS hasn't taken over yet: you still have your head on your shoulders, your wives and children haven't been raped and shot yet.

Oops, I apologise for causing offence to your new besties :)

Joe

*Dream On*

" ... But you don't have to carry papers with you. ... "

That's correct. And, if you had noted my earlier post, you would have seen that I raised that very point earlier. In any event, we can agree to agree on that.

However, not withstanding *ToniL's* comments, you must recognise that there is some variance across different state jurisdictions. That's the first thing.

The second thing is that I would expect that the statutory authority guvening ABF would be somewhat different to the local state police, and further I would be surprised if that same authority wasn't tailored to enable them to do their job of establishing id.

So, if you were put on the spot and replied:

JLM: " I'm Joe LoudMouth. Ozzie citizen, proud of it and don't hassle
me."

ABF: " Is that so Mr Loudmouth you say. Just one moment Sir."

..

ABF: " So Mr LoudMouth, when were you born? What is your current residential address and what is your phone number? "

..

Of course, if you answered these questions satisfactorily, then you would no doubt be free to go. If not however, and you failed to explain yourself to the satisfaction of the interrogating officer, I suspect that you would land up in the back of the paddy wagon.

We all have our freedoms and the police have a rigid set of rules to follow, but insist on the first and the second may be broken.

Reasonable grounds?

"He reached behind his back, Your Honour, and being apprehensive that he was reaching for a weapon, I hit him".

Passing a note to your defender, because you can't talk properly yet, you deny reaching behind your back but the Magistrate doesn't believe you and hands down a suspended sentence because you appear to be of good character, usually.

SM,

"At no point in the communique was it mentioned that people would be asked for their visas or passport, which would be useless anyway as no one is required to carry them, which essentially blows your argument right out of the water."

Hohoho!....of course there wasn't - it's obvious from this wording that ABF officers planned to use their ESP super powers to glean the status of people as they walked by....

"“ABF officers will be positioned at various locations around the CBD speaking with any individual we cross paths with,” Mr Smith said.

“You need to be aware of the conditions of your visa; if you commit visa fraud you should know it’s only a matter of time before you’re caught out.”"

You write:

"It is typical of the far left whingers to deliberately misinterpret whatever they want, then start howling that they want their delusion stopped, which other than taking Prozac is impossible."

So lets get this straight. Abbott goes to all the trouble and expense of kitting immigration out in shiny black uniforms, bestowing them a brand new title (which sounds like something out of a B-Grade seventies TV show) - as soon as the uniforms are in place, he decides that all that regalia would look great and suitably menacing on the streets - the ABF releases a communique along those very lines...and you say the lefties misinterpreted it.

The only ones who didn't see it for what it was appears to be the extreme far-right, who are ably represented on this forum.

We all know that immigration and police cooperate and work together on occasions. The difference here was Abbott and Co beefing up a department into a paramilitary unit and deploying them on the streets for no good reason except to intimidate.

Interesting that you see that as entirely acceptable.