BY ALISON DELLIT
Even before "anti-terrorist" legislation, increasing powers to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, has been publicly released, attacks on civil liberties in Australia are increasing.
The legislation, first proposed by Prime Minister John Howard on October 2, is expected to be introduced into the federal parliament when it begins sitting again next year. Although it has yet to be drafted, Howard and the Attorney General Daryl Williams have publicly discussed its probable content.
The legislation will create a new offence "terrorism" and give ASIO the power to detain people for 48 hours without formally arresting them, after obtaining a warrant. Those detained will have no right to legal counsel. To refuse to answer questions will incur a penalty of up to five years imprisonment.
Those detained would not have to be suspected of terrorism. Williams told the ABC's Lateline on November 27, "We would need to have access to people who may not be themselves doing anything, but who may have information". This could include journalists, medical professionals and lawyers, as well as sympathisers or people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The most frightening aspect of the legislation is the looseness of the description of "terrorism". Although no definition has been confirmed, one proposal put forward by Howard was "actions to advance a political, religious or ideological cause directed against the national interest".
Such a definition could easily be applied to any group that is critical of or opposes government policy, since the latter is always deemed by the government to be "in the national interest". It could even be extended to those expressing views disliked by the government and its supporters.
Harassment of those with dissent views already started. On December 7, the Sydney Morning Herald revealed that left-liberal commentator Phillip Adams is under investigation for "racial vilification" following an Australian opinion piece in October in which he pointed to the US government's record of racial violence.
Anecdotal evidence suggests many left-wing migrant activists, particularly Palestinians, have had their houses searched by ASIO since September 11, and others have been questioned. Evidence of this is hard to collect, due to the extreme reluctance of many victims of this harassment to speak out publicly and attract more attention. Arabic groups will undoubtably be the first targets of any new "anti-terrorism" legislation.
The legislation's passage through the Senate is unlikely to be smooth. Although initially supporting the idea of restrictions on civil liberties, the ALP announced on November 28 that it will be calling for a parliamentary inquiry, with public hearings, into the legislation. The Australian Greens issued a press release condemning the proposals out of hand. The Democrats have not yet released a statement but indicated in September that they would support increased powers for ASIO.
From Green Left Weekly, December 12, 2001.
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