Category: CLArion

With a federal election only months away, the government needs to lift its game over citizens’ liberties and rights if it is to be re-elected. The ballyhooed promise of a National Commission Against Corruption is not being realised, Robodebt repercussions remain unresolved, campaigning internationally against the death penalty is moribund, and a strong parliamentary committee drive for a thorough overhaul of human rights, including a new federal Human Rights Act, languish for want of a formal government response. Maybe the newly sworn in Ministry will help, but it’s really a swift change of attitude, followed by more urgent positive action, that’s needed.

Darwin becomes the corruption capital of Australia this month as a major conference alights on fertile soil in the Top End. In the Far South, politicians are trying to solve judicial dilemmas by changing the deck chairs, when it’s the state’s culture,  secrecy and establishment that lies at the core of most problems. Both jurisdictions need a Human Rights Act to help save the little people from the powers-that-will-always-be. Meanwhile, the federal HRA campaign is quiescent, but boosted by Australians realising how important Julian Assange’s rights and liberty became to most of us. 

A federal parliament committee has urged the Albanese government to enact a Human Rights Act for Australia. The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, chaired by Labor MHR Josh Burns, made 17 wide-raning and positive recommendations in a report released on 30 May. Australia needs to protect human rights in law like other liberal democracies do, mount a major national education campaign, and school all public servants to fully consider human rights. Parliament itself needs to scrutinise human rights much more closely, the committee also says.

Four different public inquiries have been investigating problems around how Australia has handled the COVID-19 pandemic. One inquiry only recommends basing further detailed probes into lessons for the future on the basis of the human rights of Australians. The C-19 issue sits alongside key questions generally about whether police, prosecutors and the courts are letting Australia down. It is time for a national inquiry into justice: there has never been one.

The tabling date for a major report into Australia’s human rights framework has been postponed by two months, to 30 May 2024. The report, after 14 months’ analysis by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, is expected to detail the full benefits that could accrue by modernising and improving the framework. In particular it is likely to discuss how to avoid more illegal Robodebt claims, ancient fines resurrected by the ATO and similar bureaucratic fiascos. Better empowering citizens in the long run could enhance trust in parliament, politicians, government and Australian democracy itself. Also, in contrasting approaches reported this month, the ATO is planning to take over government digital communications even as another parliamentary committee tries to rein in government IT projects to prevent waste.