Yes, we should be afraid - of sacrificing freedoms to expedience

"Do the changes to the Crimes Act and the associated anti-terrorism measures announced by the Prime Minister last week suggest a Government that is more alarmed than alert, or are they further evidence of political virtuosos who can spin the public's security concerns into political advantage? The answer is: it is a bit of both.

"But where alarm and spin combine to constrain personal freedoms without having much impact on the problem - terrorism - the public has reason to worry ...

"Of greater concern are the proposed laws that significantly increase the powers of government and the bureaucracy to curtail personal freedoms. Civil liberty and jurisprudence issues aside, we need to ask ourselves whether the threat is serious enough to warrant these changes, and whether they will be effective anyway.

"Serious doubts attach to legislation permitting control orders, preventive detention, notice to produce relevant information, and the extension of stop, question and search powers. Such powers, if aimed at the communities that might harbour terrorist sentiments, are more likely to exacerbate the problem than alleviate it ...

"Governments must work together to attack the causes and motives of terrorism by addressing the issues that alienate vulnerable communities and generate radicalism.

"What is more alarming is that these measures are unsupported by argument and evidence of threat. Nor is there any analysis of their likely effectiveness. And accountability is overlooked. It is here that one might suspect the victory of politics over reason. Australia will not be more secure by becoming less free: our real defence is the rule of law, inclusiveness and prosperity."

Allan Behm advises on strategy and risk. From 1990 to 1994 he was responsible for counter-terrorism policy in the Attorney-General's Department.
Sydney Morning Herald

Meanwhile, the Alustralian Labor Party under Kim 'Bomber' Beazley is as weak as water once again: Beazley calls for practicality in terrorism fight. No analysis, no direction, no vision.

Australia’s terror paranoia is unfounded

Tagged: australia, terrorism, law, laws, legislation, howard, liberty, liberties, civil, human, rights