Suldaanka Posted October 16, 2005 Police state fears over terror laws Australia is moving towards a police state with harsh anti-terrorism laws that could be pushed through parliament too quickly, the Law Council says. Copies of the sweeping new laws were leaked on Friday by the ACT Government and have sparked concerns among legal experts. The Federal Government last week said it would introduce the laws to parliament on October 31, but only allow the Senate one week to investigate them and report by November 8. The Law Council of Australia said passing the proposed laws would push the nation closer to becoming a police state. "We're moving down that path," council president John North told the Ten Network. "The fact that the government wanted to move these laws through parliament with indecent haste and without letting us as a Law Council or other interested people have wide community consultation means that we're very concerned about them." Under the bill, people who support insurgents can be jailed for up to seven years. Australian Federal Police will also be able to carry out what are termed preventative detention orders, effectively locking up people thought to be involved or to have knowledge of a terrorist act. Suspected terrorists who are detained by police will be able to ring loved ones but not tell them where they are, while judges can stop suspects from using the internet or telephones. Mr North said he understood that people were frightened about terrorism, but civil liberties had to be protected. "We understand that the people are scared, we understand that terrorism is the major, major issue, but we must not take away fundamental rights without asking our government to assure us that we are going to be safe," he said. The Law Council president said he was particularly concerned about shoot to kill provisions in the draft legislation, and the plan to allow children as young as 16 to be detained without charge for up to 14 days. Mr North said he was worried about the reaction of the government in the wake of the London bombings in July. "Internationally it is really only lawyers who are trying to hold their governments to account at this stage," he said. "We think the people will understand as soon as they start to see these laws misused and abused by our police and intelligence authorities." - AAP Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muhammad Posted October 17, 2005 there was this ausie show i use to watch on satellite, Dateline or samething with Line. they were obsessed with terrorism, specially Indonesia. I guess these days, it aint easy having 200+ milliom Muslims as a neighbor. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Janna Posted October 17, 2005 Beyond obessessed. "Anti-terror laws", "Terrorism", Such messages are bombarded onto our television sets. Its getting pathetic. Everywhere you turn you will see "Anti-terror" messages. Sometimes you feel like laughing as you read the hidden messages. Australia certainly is suffering from Islamophobia. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FatB Posted October 17, 2005 lex u changed ur aviator! misa liked the old one Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Janna Posted October 17, 2005 One and Only Is it me or are you missing a brain. This topic is not about avators but the serious issues Australian muslims are facing. Hopefully you have a surname that is recognised to be a Islamic name such as: Ali Mohamed, then you might care about your fellow muslims. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FatB Posted October 17, 2005 sister here in australia the situation of islamphobia is spear head by that bushy eyebrowl, short, but kisssing man that we call johny howard. to tell you the true we can state our concerns and make as much nose as we can but at the end of the day, the liberal part has 60% of the votes in the upper and lower house; so, this bill will be passed whether we like it or not we can only try to wether the storm and and make our votes count at the next election. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Janna Posted October 18, 2005 A very well done for you contribution, One and Only Inshallah next election John Howard will not be in power, for my vote will counter. The least we can do is educate the non-believers in our classes about Islam. This too can be done by showing the charactertics of a muslim. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites