Protecting the Civil Liberties and Freedom of the Australian People
- by: Kim Clarke, Australians standing up for our Rights
- recipient: John Howard, The Prime Minister of Australia (The Hon John Howard MP), Australian Government
The Australian People have NO LEGISLATION protecting their Rights and Civil Liberties.
It is time for the Australian People to stand up for our Civil Liberties and rights. We as a nation need to make a stand and insist upon a Charter of Rights to be implemented into the Australian Constitution as a way of protecting our
freedom and life style...
The Scrutiny of Legislation Committee was established in the early 1990s to ensure that legislation drafted by the Government was consistent with civil liberties principles. The committee was to report to Parliament where new legislation infringed on important civil liberty principles. While this committee does a great deal of hard work, the concept has been unsuccessful. The government, especially where it has a large majority, can and does frequently ignore the committee's recommendations.
Something more effective is needed to ensure legislation complies with fundamental civil liberties principles.
The solution is a Charter of Rights,
(voted on by the Australian people)
Our political system is in the dark ages...the Japanese are making amendments to their constitution yet in Australia neither major party will allow citizens to have protection of civil liberties....they wonder why the public don't take an interest in politics.. But the truth is they don't want the public involved in politics, let alone for them to realise that there are no laws that protect against those with power from abusing their position....
In fact, threats have been used to prevent change....like you may lose certain freedoms etc......
If we don't make a stand soon, then the government is just going to keep slowly eroding away at our freedom..... eventually something major is going to happen and you can guarantee that when it does those in power are going to use the incident as an excuse to introduce even more restricting and persecuting laws, that can be used against the Australian people as a way of manipulating them....
It is time to make a stand.... it is for these reasons that I purpose that the Australian Constitution has a Charter/Bill Of Rights added to it; as a way of protecting the civil liberties and freedom of the Australian
And just incase you need more convincing that the Australia people need something in the constitution to protect their rights;
The police are pushing for RICO style laws in Australia.
The Federal Government has utilized a set of laws called the
R.I.C.O. Act
(Racketeering and Influenced, Corrupt Organizations Act)
to railroad selected established organizations, their members and associates into legal battles and jail terms.
Remember, the Australian Government is implementing these R.I.C.O. laws and we, the Australia people, have no protection in the constitution to combat the 'unfareness' of such laws...
UNDER R.I.C.O.
YOU MAY BE TRIED FOR YOUR MEMBERSHIP IN OR ASSOCIATION WITH AN ORGANIZATION.
YOU MAY BE TRIED, CONVICTED, AND SENTENCED AGAIN FOR THE VERY SAME ACT/S. EVEN IF YOU WERE TRIED AND FOUND NOT GUILTY THE FIRST TIME, YOU CAN BE TRIED AGAIN.
ALL THE GOVERNMENT NEED DO IS CLAIM THAT ONE ACT OCCURRED WITHIN THE 5-YEAR PERIOD, AND THEN THEY MAY TRY YOU FOR ANY ACT/S WHICH OCCURRED WITHIN 10 YEARS OF THE FIRST ACT, EXCLUDING PERIODS OF IMPRISONMENT.
YOU LOSE YOUR RIGHT TO A SPEEDY TRIAL. HOW CAN YOU DEFEND YOURSELF AGAINST CHARGES THAT ARE 10-15 YEARS OLD?
YOU MAY BE TRIED TOGETHER WITH PERSONS WHO YOU HAVE NEVER MET AND OR OTHERWISE. EVIDENCE OF ANOTHER'S CRIMINAL ACTIONS MAY BE USED AGAINST YOU.
Now if you think that the Police and Government will only use these laws against 'the baddies', then think again..... THEY HAVE THE POWER TO USE THEM AGAINST WHOMEVER THEY CHOOSE....... not to mention the fact that they could be used to hide corruption within the Government and police force. By using said laws as a way of silencing potential witnesses esp since under these laws anyone the witness knows is in danger of being railroaded and that alone would be enough to keep most people/witnesses quite.......
So lets take back our country and make sure that the laws we live under are FOR us and not for the Government and police to USE AGAINST US..... Lets make a stand and demand that a Charter Of Rights is placed within the Australian Constitution that will protect it's people, their rights and freedom from those who wish to destroy it......
It is time for the Australian People to stand up for our Civil Liberties and rights. We as a nation need to make a stand and insist upon a Charter of Rights to be implemented into the Australian Constitution as a way of protecting our
freedom and life style...
The Scrutiny of Legislation Committee was established in the early 1990s to ensure that legislation drafted by the Government was consistent with civil liberties principles. The committee was to report to Parliament where new legislation infringed on important civil liberty principles. While this committee does a great deal of hard work, the concept has been unsuccessful. The government, especially where it has a large majority, can and does frequently ignore the committee's recommendations.
Something more effective is needed to ensure legislation complies with fundamental civil liberties principles.
The solution is a Charter of Rights,
(voted on by the Australian people)
Our political system is in the dark ages...the Japanese are making amendments to their constitution yet in Australia neither major party will allow citizens to have protection of civil liberties....they wonder why the public don't take an interest in politics.. But the truth is they don't want the public involved in politics, let alone for them to realise that there are no laws that protect against those with power from abusing their position....
In fact, threats have been used to prevent change....like you may lose certain freedoms etc......
If we don't make a stand soon, then the government is just going to keep slowly eroding away at our freedom..... eventually something major is going to happen and you can guarantee that when it does those in power are going to use the incident as an excuse to introduce even more restricting and persecuting laws, that can be used against the Australian people as a way of manipulating them....
It is time to make a stand.... it is for these reasons that I purpose that the Australian Constitution has a Charter/Bill Of Rights added to it; as a way of protecting the civil liberties and freedom of the Australian
And just incase you need more convincing that the Australia people need something in the constitution to protect their rights;
The police are pushing for RICO style laws in Australia.
The Federal Government has utilized a set of laws called the
R.I.C.O. Act
(Racketeering and Influenced, Corrupt Organizations Act)
to railroad selected established organizations, their members and associates into legal battles and jail terms.
Remember, the Australian Government is implementing these R.I.C.O. laws and we, the Australia people, have no protection in the constitution to combat the 'unfareness' of such laws...
UNDER R.I.C.O.
YOU MAY BE TRIED FOR YOUR MEMBERSHIP IN OR ASSOCIATION WITH AN ORGANIZATION.
YOU MAY BE TRIED, CONVICTED, AND SENTENCED AGAIN FOR THE VERY SAME ACT/S. EVEN IF YOU WERE TRIED AND FOUND NOT GUILTY THE FIRST TIME, YOU CAN BE TRIED AGAIN.
ALL THE GOVERNMENT NEED DO IS CLAIM THAT ONE ACT OCCURRED WITHIN THE 5-YEAR PERIOD, AND THEN THEY MAY TRY YOU FOR ANY ACT/S WHICH OCCURRED WITHIN 10 YEARS OF THE FIRST ACT, EXCLUDING PERIODS OF IMPRISONMENT.
YOU LOSE YOUR RIGHT TO A SPEEDY TRIAL. HOW CAN YOU DEFEND YOURSELF AGAINST CHARGES THAT ARE 10-15 YEARS OLD?
YOU MAY BE TRIED TOGETHER WITH PERSONS WHO YOU HAVE NEVER MET AND OR OTHERWISE. EVIDENCE OF ANOTHER'S CRIMINAL ACTIONS MAY BE USED AGAINST YOU.
Now if you think that the Police and Government will only use these laws against 'the baddies', then think again..... THEY HAVE THE POWER TO USE THEM AGAINST WHOMEVER THEY CHOOSE....... not to mention the fact that they could be used to hide corruption within the Government and police force. By using said laws as a way of silencing potential witnesses esp since under these laws anyone the witness knows is in danger of being railroaded and that alone would be enough to keep most people/witnesses quite.......
So lets take back our country and make sure that the laws we live under are FOR us and not for the Government and police to USE AGAINST US..... Lets make a stand and demand that a Charter Of Rights is placed within the Australian Constitution that will protect it's people, their rights and freedom from those who wish to destroy it......
Even though the following is directed towards the Queensland Government it is also valid for the Government as a whole.............
Queensland's governance and police practices are undoubtedly better and more accountable than before the landmark 1987-89 Fitzgerald royal commission was set up. But there is no room for complacency. Twenty years on there is a need to look at reform mechanisms to ensure the Fitzgerald-inspired reforms continue to deliver a better outcome for Queensland.
While parliamentary procedure has improved with the post-Fitzgerald introduction of a system of parliamentary committees, the dominance by the executive over Parliament remains a major problem, especially with the absence of an upper house to critically examine and review legislation.
The Scrutiny of Legislation Committee was established in the early 1990s to ensure that legislation drafted by the Government was consistent with civil liberties principles.The committee was to report to Parliament where new legislation infringed on important civil liberty principles.
While this committee does a great deal of hard work, the concept has been unsuccessful. The state government, especially where it has a large majority, can and does frequently ignore the committee's recommendations.
Something more effective is needed to ensure legislation complies with fundamental civil liberties principles. The solution is a Charter of Rights which gives the independent courts the power to declare a particular piece of legislation offends fundamental civil liberties precepts.
Freedom of Information legislation is now a pale shadow of what was intended to be a new system of open government after the Fitzgerald report.
The Bundaberg Hospital Commission of Inquiry noted a culture of concealment, with successive governments since 1992 misusing the Freedom of Information Act to enable potentially embarrassing information to be concealed from the public.
Legislation to address miscarriages of justice and to appropriately and fairly compensate those who are wrongly convicted is now well overdue. The UK Government eight years ago found it necessary to introduce a set of laws to deal with this problem and the Criminal Cases Review Commission which it has established has been very successful in rectifying miscarriages of justice which otherwise would have gone unaddressed.
The current system of compensating victims of miscarriages of justice at the whim of the government of the day is antiquated and wrong. An effective system of addressing miscarriages of justice by a body independent of the government of the day is well overdue for implementation in this country. Fitzgerald recommended wide-ranging consultation before law and order legislation is introduced into Parliament.Current consultation practices have gone backwards in the past 10 years.
The police portfolio is by far the worst in this regard. With police legislation under the current minister there is little or no consultation outside the Queensland Police Service.
External oversight and supervision of police power abuse has regressed since the Crime and Misconduct Commission handed the investigation of complaints against police back to the service.
While the CMC retains the investigation of police corruption it ineffectively monitors the police investigating the police regime in relation to other complaints against police.
Witness in this regard the CMC monitoring of complaints against police in the aftermath of the arson of the Palm Island police station in November 2004. Despite the stinging coronial criticism of police removing identities and wearing balaclavas in the post-arson raids on the island and the investigation of police by their police friends, the CMC "monitoring" of the serious complaints against police arising out of the Palm Island scenario was a limp-wristed recommendation for the hardy perennial of more police training. The CMC increasingly is unable to resolve its conflicting priorities of being a super police force in relation to organised crime, using its standing permanent royal commission powers with its oversight role over the QPS with the possible exception of investigating police corruption. The CMC police oversight role is on the way to becoming moribund.
Allegations of police leaning on and threatening suspects before the police station interview tape is turned on is becoming an increasing problem.
The solution is simple. Mandate police to tape record suspects from point of first contact out in the field. The police frequently do it when it suits them.
Finally, the apparent recent practice of a number of city and suburban CIB squads referring suspects to a small coterie of criminal defence lawyers is a problem which must be confronted.
Legal profession rumours of frequent open tab boozy lunches being given to these squads in return for large-scale referrals need investigation. Fearless and independent advice to clients by lawyers who depend on large-scale police referrals is compromised...Written by Terry O'Gorman is a Brisbane criminal lawyer and Vice President of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties
The Australian Government has passed laws that now allow the police (with a warrant) to enter and search any house, even if no-one is at home...what is stopping them from 'planting' listening devices or false evidence..... .......
Please do not be fooled into thinking that this only happens to those who are thugs, criminals or 'other people', as this has been happening to everyday citizens as a way of gaining information that is then used against friends, family, work colleagues and anyone they choose.....
It is time to stand up for our rights and demand that the Australian Government introduces, into the Australian Constitution, A Charter/Bill Of Rights that protects its citizens against those willing to abuse their positions in power.......
We can no longer turn a blind eye as it is only going to get worse....
Sign PetitionSign PetitionQueensland's governance and police practices are undoubtedly better and more accountable than before the landmark 1987-89 Fitzgerald royal commission was set up. But there is no room for complacency. Twenty years on there is a need to look at reform mechanisms to ensure the Fitzgerald-inspired reforms continue to deliver a better outcome for Queensland.
While parliamentary procedure has improved with the post-Fitzgerald introduction of a system of parliamentary committees, the dominance by the executive over Parliament remains a major problem, especially with the absence of an upper house to critically examine and review legislation.
The Scrutiny of Legislation Committee was established in the early 1990s to ensure that legislation drafted by the Government was consistent with civil liberties principles.The committee was to report to Parliament where new legislation infringed on important civil liberty principles.
While this committee does a great deal of hard work, the concept has been unsuccessful. The state government, especially where it has a large majority, can and does frequently ignore the committee's recommendations.
Something more effective is needed to ensure legislation complies with fundamental civil liberties principles. The solution is a Charter of Rights which gives the independent courts the power to declare a particular piece of legislation offends fundamental civil liberties precepts.
Freedom of Information legislation is now a pale shadow of what was intended to be a new system of open government after the Fitzgerald report.
The Bundaberg Hospital Commission of Inquiry noted a culture of concealment, with successive governments since 1992 misusing the Freedom of Information Act to enable potentially embarrassing information to be concealed from the public.
Legislation to address miscarriages of justice and to appropriately and fairly compensate those who are wrongly convicted is now well overdue. The UK Government eight years ago found it necessary to introduce a set of laws to deal with this problem and the Criminal Cases Review Commission which it has established has been very successful in rectifying miscarriages of justice which otherwise would have gone unaddressed.
The current system of compensating victims of miscarriages of justice at the whim of the government of the day is antiquated and wrong. An effective system of addressing miscarriages of justice by a body independent of the government of the day is well overdue for implementation in this country. Fitzgerald recommended wide-ranging consultation before law and order legislation is introduced into Parliament.Current consultation practices have gone backwards in the past 10 years.
The police portfolio is by far the worst in this regard. With police legislation under the current minister there is little or no consultation outside the Queensland Police Service.
External oversight and supervision of police power abuse has regressed since the Crime and Misconduct Commission handed the investigation of complaints against police back to the service.
While the CMC retains the investigation of police corruption it ineffectively monitors the police investigating the police regime in relation to other complaints against police.
Witness in this regard the CMC monitoring of complaints against police in the aftermath of the arson of the Palm Island police station in November 2004. Despite the stinging coronial criticism of police removing identities and wearing balaclavas in the post-arson raids on the island and the investigation of police by their police friends, the CMC "monitoring" of the serious complaints against police arising out of the Palm Island scenario was a limp-wristed recommendation for the hardy perennial of more police training. The CMC increasingly is unable to resolve its conflicting priorities of being a super police force in relation to organised crime, using its standing permanent royal commission powers with its oversight role over the QPS with the possible exception of investigating police corruption. The CMC police oversight role is on the way to becoming moribund.
Allegations of police leaning on and threatening suspects before the police station interview tape is turned on is becoming an increasing problem.
The solution is simple. Mandate police to tape record suspects from point of first contact out in the field. The police frequently do it when it suits them.
Finally, the apparent recent practice of a number of city and suburban CIB squads referring suspects to a small coterie of criminal defence lawyers is a problem which must be confronted.
Legal profession rumours of frequent open tab boozy lunches being given to these squads in return for large-scale referrals need investigation. Fearless and independent advice to clients by lawyers who depend on large-scale police referrals is compromised...Written by Terry O'Gorman is a Brisbane criminal lawyer and Vice President of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties
The Australian Government has passed laws that now allow the police (with a warrant) to enter and search any house, even if no-one is at home...what is stopping them from 'planting' listening devices or false evidence..... .......
Please do not be fooled into thinking that this only happens to those who are thugs, criminals or 'other people', as this has been happening to everyday citizens as a way of gaining information that is then used against friends, family, work colleagues and anyone they choose.....
It is time to stand up for our rights and demand that the Australian Government introduces, into the Australian Constitution, A Charter/Bill Of Rights that protects its citizens against those willing to abuse their positions in power.......
We can no longer turn a blind eye as it is only going to get worse....
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