AUSTRALIA/CUBA: federal police will be able to fit innocent suspects with tracking devices for 12 months, and their state counterparts could be allowed to hold people without charge for two weeks, under federal government plans to remove civil liberties.

The government also plans to make it harder for foreigners to get Australian citizenship and to introduce new offences of inciting violence against community groups and Australian militants overseas, and leaving baggage unattended at airports.

Announcing the new measures, which were met with concern from civil liberty groups, lawyers and some Coalition MPs, war criminal, john hoWARd, said they were "unusual" but were necessary "to cope with an unusual and threatening situation".

But it appears the most unusual and threatening situation is john HoWARd and his war criminal mates. Do I have to name them?

hoWARd: "There is nothing in these measures that can possibly be regarded as creating a quasi-police state," he said.

There was nothing in the measures that advocated torture either but look what happened to Mamdouh Habib.

hoWARd said the planned laws, which are light on detail and have yet to be drafted, would not have a "sunset clause" requiring Parliament to re-enact them. They arose out of a review of counter-terrorism laws ordered by him after the London bombings in July.

At their centre is the creation of "control orders" - similar to apprehended violence orders - on people who "pose a terrorist risk to the community". federal police would be able to ask courts - possibly in a closed session - for an order to fit tracking devices on suspects and to restrict their travel and whom they socialise with.

federal police would also be able to detain people in a "terrorism situation" for 48 hours, demand documents and obtain airline passenger information, and have increased powers of "stop, question and search".

In other words interfere with a person.

The federal government will ask the states at a premiers' meeting later this month to give state police powers to detain suspects for up to 14 days. hoWARd said this was needed to give police time to "prevent the destruction of evidence to prevent the trail going cold" after a terrorist attack.

The Premier, Morris Iemma, said he would consider the proposals before the premiers met on September 27.

That means yes!

The federal government will also ask the premiers to consider more random baggage searches and closed circuit television at transport hubs and places of "mass gatherings".

Existing offences for financing terrorism, providing false or misleading information to asio and threatening aviation security will be strengthened, as will asio's search powers. The government also plans to increase the waiting period for citizenship applications from two years to three, and reserve the right to refuse applications on security grounds.

The president of the Council for Civil Liberties, Terry O'Gorman, said once in place, the laws would never be removed. "The Prime Minister said today this combined package of powers will not mean a police state," he said. "We say it very much holds the potential for that to happen."

The Australia Defiance Association questioned the government's refusal to use a sunset clause. The association's executive director, Neil James, said it would make the laws more palatable.

Lex Lasry, QC, of the Victorian Criminal Bar Association, accused the Government of frightening the public, and "having frightened them into thinking a terrorist attack is going to happen any day, taking away some pretty fundamental rights".

Waleed Kadous from the Muslim Civil Rights Network said the announcement meant "a radical shift in the civil rights of all Australians... it will push us more towards a police state".

Some Coalition backbenchers, including Petro Georgiou and senators George Brandis and Marise Payne, complained the initiatives, which were outlined to them in a Coalition party room meeting before they were announced publicly, were "imposed" upon them without consultation. They said it was a "rorting" of the parliamentary process.

hoWARd defended the timing of his announcement. He said he wanted to announce it before he left for New York on Sunday for the UN 2005 World Summit, and it was "absurd" to suggest it was designed to deflect attention from the Telstra furore.

The alleged opposition said it would examine the proposals when more details were available. "labor supports measures which will genuinely protect Australians against the threat of terrorist attack," said labor's spokesman on homeland security, Arch Bevis.

But labor protects its cronies said the Monster.

Track and chase I wonder if that means you'll be delivered on time?

BARRAGE OF LAWS

- 12-month control orders on terrorist suspects.

- Criminalise financing of terrorist acts.

- ASIO access to airline passenger information.

- Waiting period for citizenship extended.

Related:

'Different times' call for bill of rights, says QC

But I don't know where he gets that from at the moment Australia's Human Rights record is appalling just ask any Refugee! Anyway I do understand pragmatism so I won't knock him any further because he wants to compromise with the government about their human rights record.

More:  http://sydney.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=58524&group=webcast

Government warned Terror Laws "inherently dangerous, draconian and open to misuse"

As the free-market Forbes freaks meet in Sydney, proposed new "terror" laws have been touted as "inherently dangerous" and open to misuse. A recent poll, found that 70 per cent of respondents expected a terrorist attack in Australia within two years -- up from 66 per cent in March last year...

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself-- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror..." - Franklin Roosevelt

More:  http://www.geocities.com/publik16/archive05/2005c73.html

WA/ Satellite Surveillance

Dear Friends and fellow stakeholders,

Re : Satellite Tracking of offenders of serious crime released to community supervision.

AUSTRALIA: WA: It is understandable that the Minister for Justice is looking towards a surveillance program. His department have failed him and need to be constantly under his watchful eye and surveillance of their own key performance indicators.

More:  http://www.geocities.com/publik16/archive05/2005c76.html

Howard government threatens academic freedom

In resigning I also attempted to draw attention to the fact that on two occasions while on the committee, to two separate academic members, I expressed concern that each had suggested that the committee needed to "cut its cloth" of its recommendations to suit what the government might find acceptable.

More:  http://sydney.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=58803&group=webcast