New Anti-Terrorism Powers for Australian Government

Hey look, a non-Unification thread.

So, uh, hey... this happened.




More here

Recently in Australia there has been a considerable surge in anti-Muslim activities, as a direct result of governmental fear-mongering, inaccurate media representation, as a result of the actions of the Islamic State. There has been vandalism of mosques, desecration of Muslim grounds, as well as attacks on men who are perceived to be Muslim. I'd hate to have a beard and be tanned in Australia right now.

This new act comes into being, completely ignoring the campaigns to prevent totalitarian measures being placed. "Some freedom for some security", our politicians say. Some of these policies strike me as fairly draconian. There's been a lot of talk about more protests, but for what? Protesting has done little so far. One person even expressed a possible option that protesting/speaking out against the government might actually be a dangerous move. Whether or not that's a bit much, remains to be seen.

This comes after a few "foiled plots to behead random Australian citizens" , and the agreement to send men and materials back to the Middle-East to fight this brand new threat, the Islamic State. This new Anti-Terror Campaign is showing that it might be excessive, comparable to elements of the PATRIOT Act.

But in the last few years, the government's ties to media magnate Rupert Murdoch have been made fairly clear, especially in terms of stymieing legal digital distribution, and other services (Netflix, Hulu), not owned or operated by Murdoch's companies, who have a monopoly on our mass media. The question I am seeking an answer to, is are we being introduced into a police state, fed disinformation, propaganda and fear? Or is this "threat" as legitimate as it's displayed?

I don't know how aware the global community is being made about what's going on down here, but it hasn't even come up in conversation at work. What do you make of all this?

Quite a bit of noise over here about it. Less in the news, but Ive noticed a rather nasty tread on social media in regards to "those Musies" and aggression towards anyone appearing to be from the middle east. Renewed talk about banning burkas etc, which frankly doesnt make any sense at all.

Im not very fond of the current Australian government at all, but thats not only because of their appalling policies towards immigrants and anyone who is not white and christian.

Oh and in regards to the "security" measures. They tried it on here too. Heaps of noise. Government almost got removed for it, and then there was the biggest razzle dazzle em Ive seen in years and the resistance got dropped.

I despair.

I don't see it, and its not for lack of looking.

... and I find the TV media to be distinctly left biased, with a much greater impact then print media.

And while people are raving in the media over some jackass dropping the first iPhone sold in Perth, this happens.

I've seen evidence of good and bad folk on both sides of the fence, but there is a serious segregation of my city, especially when immigrants are involved. An engineer I used to work with has moved back to India, citing "better medical care for his family" there. I wonder what he'd have to say about all this. There is a "kill-em-all" sentiment that has been expressed by a few people I work with and randoms out in the street. It's shocking.

It wouldn't surprise me to see immigration laws tightened further... I mean, we did have the White Australia Policy for some time.

What don't you see, Adder?

I'd love to see someone try something similar to John Howard Griffin's adventure-then-book Black Like Me . In the book, a journalist details a six week experience travelling and passing himself off as a black man in the South.

Williamkaede wrote: What don't you see, Adder?

Sorry, I was referring to "are we being introduced into a police state, fed disinformation, propaganda and fear".

I'm centric but currently right of centre, because I find the Socialist Alliance and the Greens to be loonies, the ALP to be crooks and the Lib's to be too confused by everyone else to be effective. Sigh, politics...

Probably a bit over the top in the writing, but it's been awhile.

I get what you mean though, Adder. I don't hold any one political party in our system in any great esteem. Greens tend to get my vote due to their social policies though. Some of our more minor parties (Sex Party, Pirate Party) have good ideas, I just feel they need to start taking it a bit more seriously and work on their PR.

Here are the relevant webpages for the "Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) Bill";

23rd September Bill
24th September Ammendment

And some relevant links;
http://www.austrac.gov.au/
http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx
http://www.dpmc.gov.au/INSLM/index.cfm

I'm torn about it personally.

Obviously, the social aspect of targeting all Muslims is wrong. It comes straight out of the pages of Hitler and Gobbles. In America, if we are taught that equal opportunity is the goal, why support someone who discriminates against all people who adhere to a religion. Same goes for the rest of the world. If you breathe air, bleed red, require water and food to survive and are indeed a living being, you shouldn't have to fear discrimination.

However, there is a point behind the anti-Muslim sentiment. Albeit fear driven and completely out of proportion. Extremists DO intend to kill us. All of us if possible, a lot of us if convenient. I do support raised security. I even support boots on the ground in a kinetic war against ISIS and Assad. But that's only because if we intervened two years ago, and helped the moderate opposition in Syria, the Islamic State would either be a fringe thing, or it wouldn't exist. The anti-Muslim sentiment would probably also remain on the fringe because of the de escalation of the conflict. But, hey, I'm just a Marine Corporal. Afghanistan will probably wind up the same way in less time. Taliban are already retaking vital parts of Sangin, Now Zad and Kajaki alone. Let's not mention anywhere outside of Helmand where the situation is the same.

If we acted before things got this bad, we could have prevented a lot of problems. That's just the gist of it.