On June 27, the Senate passed five of the six “anti-terror” bills, in effect introducing a new “terrorism” offence into Australian law, broadening treason offences to include any support for any group engaged in armed conflict with the Australian Defence Forces and allowing the government to ban organisations deemed to be terrorist.

Government and ALP senators voted for the legislation, while the Greens, Democrats, independents and One Nation opposed the package. The ALP also opposed a Greens motion to put a five-year sunset clause on the legislation.

Despite publicly disagreeing with his party, and despite his retirement on June 30, Labor Senator Barney Cooney voted for the legislation.

Government and ALP senators moved significant amendments to the package that was originally proposed, in a fairly futile attempt to appear to be protecting civil liberties. The two most significant were an expansion of the definition of terrorism and the removal of the proposal to allow the federal attorney-general to declare an organisation illegal.

Under the new definition, to be classified as “terrorist”, an activity must be intended to do two things — advance a political, religious or ideological cause and coerce or intimidate a government or intimidate a section of the public. If the activity is part of protest, advocacy, dissent or industrial action, it will only be terrorist if it is also intended to cause serious physical harm to a person, endangers someone's life or creates a serious risk to the health or safety of the public.

The political nature of this definition is outrageous. If someone were to hijack a aeroplane in order only to extort ransom money, killing a passenger for every day the government didn't pay up, this would not legally be designated a terrorist act, because it was not committed for a political, religious or ideological reason.

On the other hand, thousands of protesters helping tear down a fence outside a refugee detention centre — to advance the political cause of refugees' freedom from mandatory detention and to “intimidate” the government into changing its policy — could be charged with committing a “terrorist act” and, if convicted, imprisoned for life, along with anyone who materially helped them. It is also illegal to commit, assist, possess “things” or train people in connection with terrorist acts.

Despite what Green Left Weekly readers may have read in the pages of our corporate competitors, organisations can still be banned under the legislation:

— The attorney-general can ban any organisation which has been listed by the UN Security Council as a terrorist organisation. Once this is done, it will become an offence to be a member, to support or to direct the activities of such an organisation.

— A court of law can still convict someone of being a member of a terrorist organisation, if the court is convinced that the organisation is terrorist, even if the organisation has not been banned by the attorney-general.

— Under a separate bill dealing with finance, the attorney-general will have the power to “freeze” the assets and financial accounts of an organisation (or an individual) that is declared by the attorney-general to be engaging in terrorist activities.

The final bill, allocating increased powers to ASIO, will be debated by parliament in its second session in August.

From Green Left Weekly, July 3, 2002.
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