SYDNEY — Proposed anti-terror legislation may allow police to spy on those who try to contact the Terrorism Hotline, according to the March 18 Weekend Australian. The Telecommunications (Interception) Amendment Bill 2006 is now before the federal parliament and is expected to pass with Coalition and ALP support.
If passed, both the police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) will have authority to tap phones belonging to people who are not suspected of any offence. The draft legislation requires merely that such people somehow be in contact with someone who might be of interest. Lawyers, politicians, journalists and many activists' phones will therefore be fair game.
The law is opposed by the Greens, the Law Council of Australia and civil liberties groups. The NSW Council of Civil Liberties' submission on the proposed law is available at <http://www.nswccl.org.au>.
Dale Mills
From Green Left Weekly, March 29, 2006.
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