BY ALISON DELLIT
Despite another critical Senate committee report, federal attorney-general Daryl Williams has again refused to accept amendments to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Legislation (Terrorism) Amendment Bill. Even with amendments, the bill is a fundamental attack on the right to political freedom in Australia.
The government's refusal coincided with the release of a report by intelligence inspector-general Bill Blick, which revealed that, following September 11, 2001, ASIO issued warrants to itself to tap phone lines. ASIO has the power, if the attorney-general is not contactable on a secure line, to issue emergency warrants in order to carry out a range of spying activities.
As currently proposed, the ASIO amendment bill would give ASIO the power to detain and question anyone suspected of holding information relevant to a terrorist investigation for 48 hours. Detention could be extended until a suspect has been held continuously for a week.
The Senate Legal and Constitutional Reference Committee tabled its report into the legislation on the evening of December 3. It recommended several changes to the legislation, including:
- To restrict detention to adults over 18;
- That warrants should not be issued by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, but by retired judges. Currently, members of the AAT and other senior judges can issue warrants. The AAT is less independent than the judiciary its members, while legally trained, rely on the government for reappointment, unlike judges who are appointed for life and cannot be sacked by the government;
- That detainees have a greater choice of lawyers. Under the proposed legislation, detainees only have access to lawyers who are part of a pool selected by ASIO. Lawyer access would not be confidential. Lawyers would not be present during interrogations. The committee is proposing to let detainees contact a lawyer of their choice, while giving ASIO the power to apply for a veto on any particular lawyer. Under the committee's recommendations, ASIO would be able to apply to start interrogations before a detainees lawyer had arrived; and
- Restrict the time allowed for interrogation to that currently in the Crimes Act;
The ALP immediately supported the committee's report, dropping its previous proposal to have Australian Federal Police officers carry out interrogations. However, the Coalition government, despite Liberal parliamentarians signing the committee's report, refused to accept the changes. As of December 6, with one week of sitting to go, the legislation had not passed Parliament.
Greens Senator Kerry Nettle issued a dissenting report on the legislation, condemning it as a whole and arguing that the committee's recommendations just tinker around the edges.
Whilst the committee's recommendations are undoubtedly improvements, they leave a fundamentally flawed bill intact and its central elements unchanged, she said.
Civil liberties campaigner Damien Lawson told Green Left Weekly that the ALP has sold us out on the fundamental issue, that of innocent people not suspected of any crime being detained without charge. Lawson believes that the bill is likely to be passed by the end of the year, with the amendments the ALP wants.
Nick Fredman, the Socialist Alliance's candidate for Lismore in the March NSW election, has been involved in protests against repressive NSW legislation. The ASIO bill is particularly dangerous because of what the government already defines as 'terrorism', he told GLW.
Under legislation passed earlier this year, protests and industrial action could be classified as 'terrorist' if the government argues that they were intended to endanger the health and safety of the public. In the right political context, the government could use all these powers against a nurses strike or even a strike of council workers refusing to pick up rubbish.
More Australians are killed every year in unsafe workplaces than by terrorist attacks. We don't see the government waging war on negligent, murderous employers, do we? We need to reject the politics of fear and understand that these laws are not needed and are dangerous.
There has even been division in the corporate media about the laws. Although supported by News Corporation, which owns most of the newspapers in Australia, including the Australian and the Daily Telegraph, the Fairfax media group is calling for more amendments to exempt journalists from being persecuted for protecting their sources.
Because of the intense security measures associated with ASIO, Fairfax is arguing that the bill might make it illegal for a journalist to interview the family or lawyer of a detained person. Journalists could also be detained under the bill, even if not suspected of committing any crime.
From Green Left Weekly, December 11, 2002.
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