Issues of shield laws for journalists, police plans for draconian data retention/snooping regimes and the need for better drug testing standards and patent protections dominate concerns for this period. Overall, it seems politicians continue to fail citizens by not providing better protection for individual freedoms, but over-act and over-react when it comes to endorsing restrictions, surveillance and unnecessary laws – proposed by police – on us all.
CLA and civil liberty/privacy and human rights organisations are battling on all fronts before special inquiries in trying to wind back government proposals that would restrict freedoms and boost police and security authority power and pervasiveness. It is time for worried citizens to tell politicians to butt out, that we want to retain control over our lives.
Other items in this issue include:
- Australia needs bigger, better whistles
- FOI reveals US military continues to hunt Assange
- Gay marriage bill bites dust: who voted how
- Anders wants to prove voting a right, not a duty
- ODD SPOT: Price of justice escapes average citizen
- Public naming of ‘suspect’ pilloried by judge
- Greens want fewer police chases to reduce deaths
- Kiwi spooks may have done Dotcom down illegally
- Drone killings are politically counter-productive, claim
- In India, don’t draw your own conclusions
- Police target ex-criminals for DNA check