Why Australia's terror laws aren't funny

By Christian Kerr

Could the anti-terror legislation kill Australian satire?

A lawyer turned filmmaker contacts Crikey on the terror laws:

"Arguably Section 30A: ‘seditious intention' means the death knell to any and all satirical comedy on TV and elsewhere; no CNNNN, no Roy and HG on the election and no John Safran. What a boring old world we live in. Can't help thinking that it is the PM's ‘cunning plan' to bring back Mrs Slocombe and the Are You Being Served team to our screens. Champagne comedy PM style!

"We'll avoid the obvious comment about Hyacinth Bucket, but does this mean publications such as Crikey would be under threat, too? Or will we be saved by Malcolm Turnbull and George Brandis?

"Australia's sedition laws are archaic, difficult to understand and based on 'dead letters,' according to two Liberal MPs who welcomed yesterday the government's decision to review the legislation.

"Malcolm Turnbull said the sedition laws were so confusing they were contributing to an unwarranted scare campaign over the Government's planned anti-terror laws.

"Sedition laws could lead to the jailing of a person for up to seven years if they are found guilty of urging another person to overthrow by force or violence the Constitution, or who threatens the ‘peace, order and good government of the commonwealth'.

"Us? Many years ago we drew attention to Senator Brandis's brave claim that he has never knowingly told a lie, so we'll happily take his comments in the Oz on trust: 'I am inclined to think the whole law of sedition is obsolete.'

"The sedition measures have caused much concern. Look at what Australian Screen Directors Association executive director Richard Harris had to say in his latest bulletin to members ..."
Crikey

Terror Tactics Bill (No 2) 2005
"At 4:14pm on Thursday, 3 November 2005, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock rose in the House of Representatives and delivered the Second Reading speech to the Anti-Terrorism Bill (No 2) 2005 — the speech in which, traditionally, the minister with the carriage of a Bill outlines its terms.Ruddock only spoke for about eight minutes and some of the content was either wrong or misleading. The speech was no more than a cursory summary of the legislation's provisions and contained no explanation of the need for Control Orders or Preventative Detention and made no reference to the Bill's radical departure from centuries of careful safeguarding of the right to personal liberty."
New Matilda

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Police State, USA
"Did you know that under the terms of the new Patriot Act prosecutors will be able to seek the death penalty in cases where “defendants gave financial support to umbrella organizations without realizing that some of its adherents might eventually commit violence”? (NY Times; editorial 10-30-05) So, if someone unknowingly gave money to a charity that was connected to a terrorist group, he could be executed."
ZNet Repression Drifting towards a Police State

Police state (Wikipedia)
Suspicious behaviour on the Tube
The Police State Is Closer Than You Think
Martial Law: Police State America - We're So Close Now
Sedition Laws Target Peaceful Civil Disobedience

Tagged: progressive, civil+rights, human+rights, activism, police+state, australia, sedition, terrorism, disinformation, authoritarianism, fascism, social+control, law, legal