‘Lateline’ is on the TV, and its part 1 of a two-part program regarding Mentoring Team Alpha in Afghanistan…and I think of the Australian men killed in Afghanistan since 2001.
I reflect on my five years in Iraq and the men killed there. I think of t…
Around Australia, drug testing of drivers takes places with no proven benefit to society and great penalty to people’s civil liberties. In WA, the accuracy of the tests is declining, research in SA shows (see CLArion newsletter July 2010). Here, Bill Bus…
Is Australia a police state?In funding and numbers, Australia’s national police force has more than doubled over the past decade. In nature and mission, it is now at the ‘centre of security’ rather than at the core of policing, its own Minister says. Are these changes turning A…
‘Hidden’ victims ofA new report – Intimate Partner Abuse of Men – has revealed that about one in three cases of domestic violence in Australia are against men. Government-funded public awareness campaigns and different training within the health and welfare sector are n…
Do the ‘bikie laws’ breach rights?What does CLA think of the SA legislation – the ‘bikie laws’ – now being considered, on appeal, by the High Court. Does the Act breach an individual’s human rights, we were asked by a student?Dear Ms XXXXX,Serio…
Police should not investigate police deaths in custody, CLA’s Keith McEwan says. There needs to be an independent body set up for such cases – justice demands no less, he says.
Investigate independently
The Editor, The Age: Your editorial ‘Justice te…
Streets littered with liberties lost“I’ll never be affected by abuse of civil liberties: it won’t happen to me”. But, as Susan Carty explains, you can be accused and convicted on an Australian street – even when innocent – if someone whose identity is kept secret reports youfor littering,…
Police and the Police Minister in WA seem determined to introduce a system where people are penalised by loss of demerit driving points if they can’t prove themselves innocent. The proposal to reverse the burden of proof is a further example of how the…
Coroner says police should cut chasesState Coroner Michael Barnes has told Queensland police they should not get involved in car chases with drunk drivers. His findings, after a detailed examination of 10 major chase death incidents over three years, provides a new benchmark for Australia,…
Aborigines bear the brunt ofAborigines continue to be massively over-represented in the nation’s jails. But in WA, the situation is beyond dire: Aborigines are closing in on being half the total number of people jailed in the state, when they comprise only about 3% of the state’s…