AUSTRALIA:MELB:The Defence Minister has said that the Government intends to make it easier to call out troops onto Australian streets with shoot to kill powers This is another "anti-terrorist" measure" which has potentially frightening consequences for the right to dissent.

Yesterday Senator Robert Hill, the Defence Minister announced the Government intends to make it far easier to call the Military out on the streets with stronger powers, including the right to detain people, to search and seize and the power to shoot to kill.

The army already has these powers in certain situations but according to Hill there are too many restrictions on their use. He said that at present calling out the armed forces was "constitutionally fraught" and the laws were too "complex" and "awkward" in a rapidly developing environment.

Under existing laws, Commonwealth interests must be at risk - or state police forces must be unable to cope. The Attorney-General, Prime Minister and Defence Minister must agree. The Governor-General then must approve and authorise the Chief of the Defence Force to act.

Exactly why these modest restrictions are too onerous for the government has not been spelled out. Apparently getting Howard, Ruddock, Hill and the GG to approve calling out the troops is too hard in the event of an emergency - perhaps they want to take the GG out of the loop.

Although the changes are being wheeled as part of the preparation to protect us from a terrorist attack - when you look at what Hill actually says its clear that the Government is trying to make it easier to militarise the streets not just in the event of terrorism but also for protests.

Hill said "There would be greater flexibility in the call out provisions to meet a wider range of scenarios," he said.

"It would ease the processes for calling out the military"

The Sunday Herald Sun reported that "He said that in response to an attack or threat, capital cities would be flooded with special forces soldiers flown in by Black Hawk helicopters from Holsworthy Military Base. "

The key word in this paragraph - is the event of not just an attack but the THREAT of an attack. Let me guess - the next time we are planning protests equivalent to the World Economic Forum protests of 2000, or against CHOGM etc the Government will declare there is a threat of a terrorist attack and the city will be flooded by armed troops with the power to shoot to kill. Kent State here we come.

The media are mainly reporting the fact that these changes are not that big and will only be used in the event of a terrorist attack occurring. This is despite the ambiguous nature of Hills statements and that we haven't seen any details.

Even the Greens seem to have got it wrong - with Kerry Nettle taking the angle that these are not meaningful changes and are just a distraction to the IR bills. I am not sure how she can be so confident that these changes are so harmless without seeing the details. Of course Bomber Beazley only contribution was to ask why these fascist powers weren't introduced four years ago.

So stay tuned - the devil is in the detail as always with this Government so lets see what they produce. The Government hopes to introduce the Bill before Christmas.