Dale Mills
"These proposals will curtail our civil liberties dramatically, but the government has not put forward any evidence that these laws will help combat terrorism", according to Agnes Chong, who contributed to a detailed report
challenging the need for the new terror laws.
Laws for Insecurity? (<http://www.piac.asn.au>), authored by a coalition of community groups, was sent to the PM and the attorney-general before the September 27 Council of Australian Governments meeting. It was endorsed by the National Association of Community Legal Centres, the Australian Muslim Civil Rights Advocacy Network (AMCRAN), the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, the Civil Rights Network, and legal academics Patrick Emerton, Annie Petitt, Stephen Sempill, Vicki Sentas and Joo-Cheong Tham.
Chong, from AMCRAN, told Green Left Weekly that she helped compile the report because, "if passed, these laws will represent a radical departure from the freedoms that Australians have always cherished".
"Usually there is some consultation, or enough time for deliberation. But this time, it was law-making by press release. In the absence of an opportunity for us to make our objections known to the government and the public, we wanted to contribute to a comprehensive document that expressed our collective concerns about these new laws."
Asked what she thought the report would achieve, Chong explained that it had already "had an impact on the debate". "It may not have had an impact on the politicians, but people from all walks of life are deeply concerned about these laws. This is a solid start on which to build a campaign", said Chong.
From Green Left Weekly, October 12, 2005.
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