New Australian anti terrorist laws

[Rukas]

Australia is introducing new terrorist prevention laws, and really, they are just as bad as the patriot act.

I haven't researched it too greatly, but from what I understand these are the powers police will now have:

- They will be able to shoot to kill on suspicion of terrorist acts; <sarcasm> of course they saw how well this worked in the UK thats why they've adopted the tactic. </sarcasm>

- Police can shoot people who refuse to answer their questions

- Police can detain you if you have not committed a crime if they feel you are suspicious. They do not have to charge you. You will be allowed to contact your family, but you wont be able to tell them you've been arrested or where you are.

- People who disrespect the Prime Minister can now we arrested.

I mean really, these are ridiculous. Id say they were unconstitutional, but Australia doesn't even have a Bill Of Rights so these Communist Regime/Gestapo tactics are hardly a surprise.

 

[Sebastian]

^
wtf Rukas? your country, or better your government cant be serious

i always knew germany is the best country to live in.lol

 

[Salar]

did it actually get passed?

 

[Jocka]

in a way.. thats kinda funny. Law seems to have one state of mind for all civilians. "Guilty". Ri-fucking-diculous .. but funny.

 

[Illuminattile]

They're going through on Melbourne Cup Day, which is November 1st, I think. Apparently the government are only giving the opposition 10 minutes to debate the bill, as opposed to a fortnight as is customary.

 

[Kareem]

damn thats fucked up, welcome to the 4th Reich, and your new Furher (sp so sue me) *drum rolls* George W Bush!!!! thats mad messed up though Ruk, i thought the patroit act was bad!

 

[Freedom Froggy]

rukas dont get shot.. i you have a thing about authority figures

 

[jaimie.uk fan]

Sounds like they are covering their arses by bringing in laws that can cover any possible fuck-ups . However i do think that laws should be looked at especially in the u.k. where they seem dated . The threat of terrorism is as high as it has ever been , but i feel the police over here have their hands tied by red tape and human rights laws which help to protect any possible suspect . Soimething needs to be done so everyone knows where they stand.

 

[Amara]

I'm no advocate of the Howard government but I must say, I do not care all that much. After the second Bali bombings, the government was criticised for not doing enough... now when they implement measures for the prevention of terrorist acts, they are criticised again. What do people want from their governments... they are damned if they do, damned if they dont...

 

[rtyfghvbn]

- Police can shoot people who refuse to answer their questions

i think that's fucked up. i mean, some of those laws are justifiable, but this makes no f'n sense.

 

[Rukas]

I'm no advocate of the Howard government but I must say, I do not care all that much. After the second Bali bombings, the government was criticised for not doing enough... now when they implement measures for the prevention of terrorist acts, they are criticised again. What do people want from their governments... they are damned if they do, damned if they dont...

The Government couldnt have done anything with the Bali bombings, they happened in Bali, not Australia.

Had these laws been in place earlier, they would have in no way prevented or served to lessen the Bali bombing, thus having them in place will not prevent any futher Bali attacks.

You may not care now, but we'll see how you feel when you live in a country where you can not speak out against the Government for fear of being detained or shot.

 

[Rukas]

As an update, apparently there have been changes made to the bill, the "shoot to kill" law has been lessened, unfortunatly due to public out cry caused by the first draft of the bill being made public, the current details and laws are being kept private.

Basically, we are not being told what the laws will be until they are passed to prevent public opinion/protest.

Free country my ass.

 

[Helena]

Free country my ass.

lmao! so true...

 

[LL COOL PAC]

looking at your new counter terrorism laws they will not only allow detention without trial but also the extension of "sedition" laws which could be used againgst those who oppose Australia's military involvement in afghanistan and iraq. How is that even enforceable? Surely the public have the right to argue if they choose that the war in iraq is not a good idea etc. Still with all these things we should keep in perspective the types of people that the goverment is trying to protect againgst. Looking through the papers you can see the mentality of islamic militants/extremists (lets name who we are really talking about).Today has a story of three girls (aged 14,14,12) in indonesia who were beheaded by islamic terrorists simply because they were christians. One of the heads was carried three miles down the road and placed in the courtyard of the local church. Nice huh? Before we lament the loss of human rights of those in custody prehaps we should consider the human rights of the victims and would be victims.

 

[Rukas]

Well the laws have been passed. The Prime Minister has gone on TV saying that the government now has information that Australia is under threat from terrorists and we will be attacked soon, thats why we need to pass the laws through.

Australia and any major nation is ALWAYS under threat, its like the threat levels in the US, obvious. Announcing it is just a political tactic, keep the people scared and they will allow you to do anything.

Sad day.

 

[The.Menace]

I agree it's a sad day - I didn't know they new laws were that bad. It's also simple to say the country is under a thread to justify the new laws ..... same damn tacitic that GW used.

It's scaring and I feel like this world is really going to hell. Freedom is nothing but a dream these days - I don't know, it's just sad.

 

[tupacmansion]

unfortunatly due to public out cry caused by the first draft of the bill being made public, the current details and laws are being kept private.

Basically, we are not being told what the laws will be until they are passed to prevent public opinion/protest.

Free country my ass.

so The Government are creating a law which apparently protects the public, yet not allowing the public to fully see the details of the law. Fukin ridiculous. Surely if this law was to protect the public then they would have no objections. And this is what they call democracy Theres no such thing as a fukin democracy. The only opinion that counts is that of those in parliament and the laws won't even effect them. Complete bullshit, people need to start protesting against this shit.

 

[Chronic]

now when they implement measures for the prevention of terrorist acts, they are criticised again. What do people want from their governments... they are damned if they do, damned if they dont...

The laws basically allow the police to arrest anyone they want and hold them. It strips people of basic rights.

Don't think this is a damned if they do, damned if they don't scenario. The laws are just ridiculous and quite frankly dangerous.

 

[The.Menace]

Does anyone have a good source? I want to actually read exactly the new rights cause I can't believe some of the points rukas mentioned here.

 

[Rukas]

^http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=BUK20051014&articleId=1079

Deals with the arrest powers, this article says its not 1 year, but 14 days, and the year applies to monitoring or house arrest. I think this was a later draft.

Aljazeera link:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F0303EB5-1359-49EF-BE7F-C2479BBC52FD.htm



I cant find anything on the shoot to kill laws at all, probably because like I said, the new bill is secret. So all I can see is they have been "watered down," but I worry how much you can actually water down a shoot to kill bill. Knee caps first? I dont know, we'll see I guess.