"Prime Minister John Howard has agreed to a meeting between state and federal legal heads to ensure new anti-terrorism laws are constitutional, Queensland Premier Peter Beattie says..." Anti-terror laws: "unconstitutional" summit
This was after Premier Peter Beattie had challenged the laws, calling them unconstitutional. Thank God someone's finally standing up against this crap (unlike the Federal Opposition Party - see Whitlam laments Labor silence on new laws). Sections of the proposed laws with "preventative" detention and control orders clash with the constitution, and a lot of it seems more knee-jerk and open for a lot of abuse rather than being considered and designed to make Australians feel safer (unless they're going to be feeling safer while locked in their own homes).
Constitutional issues aside, just who the hell are the voters who were part of the "overwhelming majority" who thought that the anti-terror plan was a great thing!? Voters say yes to Terror Australis:
"Australians overwhelmingly endorse the anti-terrorism plan agreed by the Commonwealth, states and territories, but strongly oppose the one key point of political dispute - John Howard's push to give police new shoot-to-kill powers over suspects.
According to the latest Herald Poll, about three-quarters of voters think it is OK to lock up suspected terrorists without charge, put them under house arrest or shackle them with tracking devices.
But 60 per cent of voters - up from 55 per cent from a poll taken in August - reject the Prime Minister's shoot-to-kill plan, while 35 per cent support it."
Excuse me?!?!?!?
I'm a voter, I wasn't asked anything about this. Only 1409 people were asked. Where did ACNielsen get their sample group from to ask these questions? The local mental assylum? After all, anyone who has learnt about doing statistics (oh the joy of that last year... brr!) will understand that it's very easy to get the sort of results that you want. All you need to do is be selective about your demographic. Choose the right location, talk to the right people, and you'll have your results that "prove" that all people think the same way... ;)
I want to be included in the numbers who say that the laws are poorly thought out and are potentially dangerous! I don't say yes to terror Australis, I don't say yes to politicians trying to press the fear button in an attempt to push dumb laws, I don't say yes to abusing human rights, I don't say yes to shooting people who look like they might be a terrorist, I don't say yes to a lack of transparency on this, I don't say yes to no debates about it, I don't say yes to new sedition laws, and through all of that I definitely don't say yes to terrorism.
But it needs debate, consideration and proper work to make sure that we don't end up becoming one giant Guantanamo Bay
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