As the Rudd Government fails to honour traditional Labor policy to introduce a Bill of Rights, there’s hope that the new Tasmanian Government may lead the other states by introducing just such a bill, already supported in a widespread consultation process across the island state.
We also report on how personally galling the negative national rights announcement must have been to the man who had to make it, Attorney-General Robert McClelland, a strong supporter of the concept who was over-ruled by a bullying Executive decision-making process.
Bullying is becoming a major problem in Australia, experts say. The government is claiming that its paltry human rights ‘framework’ expenditure, totalling somewhere around $15m or so, will also solve this dilemma. As the government pretends to be a supporter of human rights in the lead-up to a probable 16 October 2010 federal election, it is actively planning to slash the rights and freedoms of Australians by giving Defence the power to spy on civilians. Of course, it has recently also eliminated refugee rights – selectively – for Afghanis and Sri Lankans, so its record on rights is poor, nationally and internationally.
Other topics covered in May include:
- Palm Island coroner’s report due on Cameron Doomadgee death;
- Furtive Five meet for second time: no report to parliament;
- UN says Australian sex offenders retained in jail should be freed;
- Computer network against ID crime doesn’t check out;
- WA judges hit out at ‘law and order’ purge;
- Aussie students win international moot;
- UN Special Reporter calls for Detainees Convention;
- Police admit killing…31 years after the event;
- Coroner flees country after his report criticises police; and
- Privacy principles to be reviewed in 2011.
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