BY NICK FREDMAN
The Terrorism (Police Powers) Bill 2002, passed on December 4 by the NSW parliament, is a serious threat to democratic rights. It builds on increasing police powers granted by previous Labor and Coalition administrations, and shows the current ALP state government to be taking advantage of the "war on terror" to heighten "law and order" hysteria in the lead-up to the March 23 NSW elections.
The bill gives police new search powers and removes the possibility of courts reviewing decisions made under the bill. The bill repeats the definition of a "terrorist act" from federal "anti-terrorist" legislation passed earlier this year. Civil liberties campaigner Tim Anderson, in a briefing paper prepared for the NSW Greens, described this definition as "long, convoluted and broad". It will mean a range of activities and organisations could be deemed a "terrorist threat", triggering the new powers.
While the bill specifies that "advocacy, protest, dissent or industrial action" are exempt, this can be ignored if the "action" is "intended" to "cause serious harm" or "create a serious risk to the health and safety of the public". Anderson argues that the experience of Malaysian "national security" legislation being used to repress all dissent, and the recent demonisation of "violent" anti-WTO protestors by the NSW government and police, shows how such wording could be used to persecute progressive protesters.
Under the bill, the police minister and any officer ranking above superintendent can declare a terrorist threat. This then gives police extra powers to seize possessions and search "target" people, vehicles or premises, without warrants, including strip searching of anyone older than 10.
Staff from the School of Law and Justice at Southern Cross University have distributed a letter strongly opposing the bill. Aiden Ricketts, a lecturer at the school, told Green Left Weekly that the bill was the latest in a series of moves over the last 30 years to increase police powers. " The Summary Offences Act was a response to the movement against the Vietnam War", Ricketts argues.
The state government has introduced a range of new powers, especially in relation to the supposed "war on drugs". Police now have the ability to declare a premise a "drug house", making a mere visit to such a house an offence. Also police can now use sniffer dogs to conduct searches without even the pretence of "reasonable suspicion" of the possession of drugs. Ricketts also pointed out that the special powers police were granted over the Sydney Olympics site in 2000 were a precursor to the new bill.
Ricketts said however "the most worrying aspect of the proposed legislation is that the courts are excluded from having any role in reviewing the decision to activate the powers".
"Section 13 provides that authorisations and decisions by the police minister under part two of the act may not be challenged, or called into question on any grounds whatsoever before any court or tribunal in any legal proceedings whatsoever", Rickett added, arguing that it would now be technically very easy to set up a police state.
Anderson argues that "it is difficult to imagine amending such a law without lending it credibility" and that it would be preferable to "pursue various forms of agitation to de-legitimise and oppose it". In response to the bill's presentation to a December 6 Council of Australian Governments meeting, Greens NSW upper house member Lee Rhiannon said "we will help Greens MPs across Australia to campaign against any state legislation based on NSW Labor's flawed and heavy-handed Terrorism (Police Powers) Bill".
The Socialist Alliance plans to make opposition to increased police powers and the "law and order" hysteria a key part of its NSW election campaign. The alliance will be pointing out that community services have been slashed while spending on police and prisons increased, and how racist scapegoating is an integral part of the pro-capitalist parties' "law and order" campaigns.
We will be advocating the repeal of all the recently increased police search powers, disarming of the police and decriminalisation of drug use, in favour of massively increased resources for jobs and community services, non-judgmental drug education and safe injecting rooms.
The new "anti-terror" bill gives a new urgency for Socialist Alliance to take up this campaigning. Part of our electoral work should be encouraging Greens, dissident ALP members, trade unionists, student activists and civil libertarians to join us in organising protest meetings and rallies to oppose this bill and fight for democratic rights.
[Nick Fredman is the Socialist Alliance candidate for Lismore.]
From Green Left Weekly, December 11, 2002.
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