Terror laws
Urgent action required

by Damien Lawson
Federation of Community Legal Centres

The Federal Government and ALP have combined to stifle public comment on 
proposed anti-terrorism laws that threaten to criminalise social dissent. 
The legislation introduced into Parliament this month creates new offences 
of terrorism, gives the government the power to ban organisations and gives 
ASIO the power to detain people incommunicado for 48 hours. A Senate 
Committee will hold a public inquiry into the legislation, but have only 
given the public less then two weeks to comment on the new laws. It is 
crucial that people act now to express their opposition to the laws and 
pressure the Labor Party to block the passage of the legislation in the 
Senate.

Organisations banned

Like the Menzies Government's Communist Party Dissolution Act, "the 
Security Legislation (Terrorism) Amendment Bill" will give the government 
wide powers to outlaw organisations that it opposes.

The Attorney General will be able to proscribe organisations "likely to 
endanger, the security or integrity of the Commonwealth or another 
country." People who are members or assist banned organisations face up to 
25 years imprisonment.

The phrase "or another country" is important. This would allow a range of 
groups that support anti-colonial or national independence struggles to be 
proscribed. Under this law Nelson Mandela's ANC or East Timor's Fretilin 
could have been banned. Already the government has created a list of groups 
to be banned, which include Kurdish organisations, and Colombian guerilla 
groups the ELN and FARC.

Secret Police

ASIO will move from spy agency to secret police. With the assistance of the 
state or Federal police, ASIO will be able to arrest and hold people for 
questioning for 48 hours after obtaining a warrant from a Federal 
Magistrate or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).

Both these bodies have been appointed by the present Federal Government. 
AAT members do not have the same independence as judges, with fixed terms 
and reappointment determined by the government.

People will be able to be held incommunicado with no right to a lawyer and 
no contact with family or the outside world. People could face up to five 
years in jail for refusing to answer questions, removing people's right to 
silence.

Such powers would not be restricted to those suspected of terrorism, but 
anyone who might have information regarding politically motivated violence. 
The Attorney General has said this could include lawyers and journalists 
and even children.

It is clear these laws will be used to further harass and intimidate the 
Islamic and Arab communities in Australia, if the "war on terrorism" 
continues this net could widen to include anyone perceived as outside the 
establishment.

Terrorism or activism

Terrorism has replaced communism or subversion as the justification for the 
secret snooping of intelligence agencies and the development of powerful 
national security infrastructures.

Often these institutions have worked to shut down political dissent and 
criticism rather then pursue terrorism. Following the rise of the global 
social movements challenging corporate globalisation, these institutions 
have scrambled to gain new powers and greater resources.

The attacks on September 11 have given greater impetus to this process with 
police and intelligence agencies arguing that terrorism and activism are 
the same problem and need to be approached in the same manner.

Terrorist acts

The government's proposed terrorism offences have the potential to be used 
to criminalise militant unionism and direct action from social movements.

The Criminal Code will be amended to create a definition of "terrorist 
act", which includes actions that are made with "with the intention of 
advancing a political, religious or ideological cause".

Such actions are not restricted to harm to persons, but also include 
serious damage to property or something that places at risk the health and 
safety of a section of the public.

The scope of the definition is broadened even further to include any act 
that "seriously interferes with, seriously disrupts, or destroys, an 
electronic system".

An electronic system is defined broadly to include systems used in most 
areas of industry, such as information systems, telecommunications, 
financial systems, the delivery of essential government services, essential 
public utilities, and transport systems.

While there is an exemption for industrial action and lawful advocacy, 
protest or dissent, such an exemption does not cover a range of industrial 
action such as the effective picketing of the MUA dispute or a range of 
civil disobedience.

Using this broad definition of terrorism the legislation creates a series 
of offences such as collecting or making documents connected with terrorist 
acts, possessing things connected with terrorist acts or financing 
terrorist acts. All offences can attract a penalty of life imprisonment.

It is easy to imagine that a picket line or civil disobedience could be 
labelled as terrorist and these laws used to criminalise political 
opposition to government policy. Whatever one thinks of the present 
government, providing any government with such powerful executive power is 
dangerous.

Will the ALP block the laws?

The ALP has said they have concerns about the legislation but have not 
declared their position with regards to a vote in the Senate.

It is crucial we place as much pressure as we can on the ALP to join with 
the Greens and Democrats in blocking the laws. People should ensure as many 
individuals and organisations as possible make submissions to the inquiry 
and use this as a spring board for a campaign of gaining union and public 
opposition to the laws.