Filed under: ABC, Australia, Dr Mohamed Haneef, Four Corners, Kevin Andrews, Media, Mohamed Haneef, Politics, Terrorism
ABC television in Australia will tonight broadcast an interview with terror suspect Dr Haneef. Tune in at 8.30 tonight and see who is the biggest liar; the Liberal Immigration Minisister, or the Doctor.
Filed under: Australia, Civil Liberties, Dr Mohamed Haneef, Election, John Howard, Kevin Andrews, Liberal, Mohamed Haneef, Politics, Vivian Alvarez Solon
Leaked Liberal Party research has indicated that Australian voters perecive the prime manure John Howard as “old and dishonest.” This is because he is.
In addition, he now appears desperate, with the research proposing a stretegy to wedge the states. The idea behind this is to make the Commonwealth would appear decisive by bailing out ineffective and inefficient states.
Takes Tuesday’s foray into Queensland politics, with John Howard pledging for free, the services of the Australian Electoral Commission to help local councils fight Premier Pete’s council amalgamation policy. The policy is not very popular in Queensland, just as it was when Jeff Kennett rammed it through the Victorian parliament in 1994. It was good public policy then, so I wonder why it is not good public policy now?
Oh yes, that is right. Mister Howard is being mean and tricky and old and dishonest.
Let’s take a look at a few other recent events. The dishonesty surrounding Dr Haneef and the Commonwealth Government’s role in that tawdry affair does Howard and his Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews no credit. None.
The intervention in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory seemed like a reasonable proposition at the time. Sure, there were questions like whether or not this would produce another stolen generation, but on face value it seemed like the governement was finally willing to assist aboriginal communities. But no, read the fine print. The bill has suddenly risen to half a billin dollars, and the fundamental right to appeal Commonwealth decisions through the Social Security Appeals Tribunal, or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has ben revoked.
But then appeals to higher authorities seem pointless now, as evidenced by Kevin Andrew’s statement that Dr Haneef would be deported even if he was found not guilty. After all, the minister can overturn any immigration decision made by the Department, the Migration Review Tibunal, the Federal Magistrates Court, the Federal Court. I see the day when the innocents are dragged off the streets and into the Star Chamber to appear before the Grand Inquisitor Torquemada, err Kevin Andrews. And with a bit of luck, I may be deported to a nice Dutch seaside resort to spend my days and dotage with Lego man. After all, it beats what happened to Vivian Alvarez Solon.
Filed under: Australia, Civil Liberties, Fascism, First They Came, John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Mohamed Haneef, Pastor Martin Niemoller, Politics, Terrorism
I have become increasingly worried about the gentle erosion of Australia’s civil liberties. While the right to free speech is not entrenched in the Australian constitution, it is an implied freedom, as is the presumption of innocence. And our dear leader, John W. Howard is doing all he can to ensure these implied tenets are consigned to the pages of history. So as fascism creeps across Australia, and immigration detention is used punitatively because the courts of law don’t give you the result you want, I am reminded of anti-Nazi theologian Pastor Martin Niemoeller, and his poem “First they Came”.
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out–
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me–
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Pastor Niemoller’s poem is about apathy, and how in Nazi Germany many intellectuals sat by as freedoms were eroded and Jews were gassed. It is entirely applicable to Australia in 2007, as one by one, our way of life, our liberty is attacked by an increasingly evil government.
Welcome to neo-fascist Australia, where you can be locked up without charge, presumed guilty and deported, seemingly at (the Triumph of) Howard’s will.
Tis time to be heard people,lest they come and take you away.
Filed under: ALP, Australia, Election, John Howard, Kevin Andrews, Kevin Rudd, Liberal, Mohamed Haneef, Politics, Tampa, Tony Burke
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new Tampa and his name is Dr Mohamed Haneef. Dr Haneef is a Gold Coast-based doctor charged with providing support to a terrorist organisation contrary to the Commonwealth Criminal Code. Namely, Haneef is alleged to have goven a mobile phone SIM card to a cousin who has since been charged with terrorism related offences. After being held without charge for twelve days, the Australian Federal Police charged him over the weekend with Commissioner Mick Keelty saying his alleged crime was one of “recklessness” rather than “intent.”
At the Gold Coast Magistrates Court yesterday magistrate Jacquie Payne set bail at $10, 000. She cited eight exceptional circumstances as to why he could be relaesed into the comunity. Fortunately for the neo-fascist Howard government, when the courts don’t deliver the result you want, you can always rely on ministerial intervention and imigration detention as Immigration and Citizenship Minister Kevin Andrews then cancelled Dr Haneef’s visa citing character grounds.
This is quite simply outrageous as it well and truly trashes the notion of judicial independence and aggregiously abolishes the presumption of innocence. And sadly, it is only the chattering classes of QC’s and civil libertarians that seem to object to this most loathsome act.
The ALP, which had started to show some spine recently, has jelly-backed itself into a corner by not condemning this act of gross stupidity and political expediency. Shadow minister for Immigration Tony Burke, waving goodbye to his credibility and showing what a weak-willed sychophant he is, claimed he believed Kevin Andrews had “acted entirely appropriately under the Migration Act. “On that basis, Federal Labor is able to provide in principle support for the decision taken today.”
Quite simply the Labor Party has fucked it as they have failed to defend both the rule of law and judicial independence. And they have once again adopted the ‘me too’ attitude to terrorism that was so spectacularly unsuccessful under Kim Beazley.
Australian Labor was delivered a magnificent opportunity to take the high moral ground on an important security issue and defend both the rule of law and our diminishing civil liberties. But they didn’t.
I had hoped the election of a Rudd Labor government would turn back the tide of neo-fascism, but it seems the goose-steppers are all one and the black shirts are only beginning their drill.
