UnAustralian Citizens And The Law

As bad as their public policy pronouncements often are, it is occasionally through their actions in court, that we see the absolute worst, and arguably, truest, reflection of the Coalition Government.

In the past, we’ve seen them argue (successfully) that they should be allowed to detain a stateless asylum-seeker forever if they refused to grant him asylum.

And on Monday, in court over the David Hicks case, they argued that they were under no obligation to act on behalf of any Australian citizen overseas.

A Tale of Two Viruses

Unfortunately, on Thursday afternoon I came down with some manner of flu bug that left me feeling pretty awful.

The only upside I could see was that, after leaving work early (and then having the next day off) I could put a little more time and effort into fully coming to grips with this site.  But after a few erratic, and in hindsight, ominous, hiccups, my computer at home chose to pack up and die on me.

To cut a long, and mucous-filled story short, I’m 80% better but my computer’s still curled up under a blanket with its arms around a bucket. 

I hope to post something substantive this afternoon – I’m sure everyone’s dying to read “A Date With John Howard” and “Bloody Britney”. 

And in other news, a shameless Technorati plug says what?

Climate Action V. Venus

Tonight I had the opportunity to indulge in one of the rare upsides to the activist lifestyle.

Occasionally, a film distribution company will send the Friends of the ABC double passes to an upcoming film.  They target groups who they feel fit into their target demographic to come to the preview screenings and start a bit of early buzz about their films. 

The film this time was Venus - and it’s being described quite glowingly as a heartwarming story of two crusty old actors who get a new lease on life through the arrival of a teenage girl.   As the central characters of the film are in their 70s, I think the demographic they were targeting this time is, to put it bluntly, old.

I can’t say the distributors hadn’t done their research.  The Friends of the ABC do tend to be of a certain vintage – my predecessor as F.ABC President in Queensland is a scant four decades older than me. Not that I think the film should only be of interest to older people – I got home to see Margaret and David reviewing it very favourably – so much so I kicked myself for not going.

Unfortunately, at the same time as the screening, Climate Action Brisbane was meeting.  I’ve been involved in this group since it formed two years ago, to stage the first Walk Against Warming – a global day of action on climate change.  That was before I bought my camera, so I didn’t capture it but there are some photos here taken by my friend and fellow CAB-er, Brooke.

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Justice

As I mentioned in the last post, David Hicks’ father Terry is coming up to Brisbane for the March 17th rally commemorating the 4th anniversary of the war in Iraq.  Anyone who has seen the documentary The President Versus David Hicks will know Terry as a softspoken everyman who’s been thrown into the awful situation of having to campaign for his son’s freedom, and quite possibly, his life.  Anyone who hasn’t seen it, should tune in to SBS tonight at 10pm – regardless of your position on David Hicks’ guilt or innocence, you cannot help but be touched by Terry’s journey, retracing David’s steps.  The  movie’s tagline reads - 

“Your son converts to Islam. Your son fights for the Taliban. Your son is labelled a terrorist. Your son is still your son”

and it sums up Terry’s situation well.  But it should also sum up ours as a country.  Whatever we think of David’s actions, we have obligations to him as a fellow citizen and a part of the Australian community.  We can dislike him as much as we want, but we can’t disappear him.

Except our Government apparently disagrees.  

Under the common law we inherited from the British, no should be above the law and no one should be beyond its protection.  The UK government demanded the return of their citizens, because they had no faith in the US military commissions ability to deliver justice.

The fact that the Supreme Court of the United States declared that process to be unconstitutional, would seem to bear them out.

But our Government persists with these trials, unwilling, or perhaps unable, to admit any flaws in the process.  If you watched the Insight programme on SBS tonight, you were  probably as shocked as I was to hear our Attorney-General’s latest talking point – that David Hicks deserves the right to clear his name in court. 

So, it’s out of concern for his best interests, and perhaps, social standing, that he’s been left in Guantanamo Bay until they could concoct a system capable of trying him for non-crimes.

David has spent five years in a hell hole, cut off from family, society, and the media and with only the barest of protections or oversight. 

If a fundamental principle of the legal system is that not only must justice be done, but that it must be seen to be done, then in Guantanamo in general, and in David’s case in particular, the injustices are so evident and so overwhelming, that any future chance for fairness has been destroyed.

His trial will permit hearsay evidence, coerced testimony, and will take place after senior figures in the US and Australia have publicly pronounced his guilt.

There are a lot of campaigns  to fight for the rights of those who’ve fallen through the cracks.  But the people in Guantanamo Bay haven’t found themselves the unfortunate victims of holes in our legislation, they have been shovelled into an abyss created deliberately to hold them beyond the law, in the name of freedom.

Everyone who missed Insight should make a point of watching the repeats, either on Friday at 2.30pm or on Monday at 2.30pm, or if you’re online tonight, join in the discussion at their site.

Terry Hicks will be speaking at the March 17th Peace Rally in Queen’s Park, Brisbane from 11am, and also at a forum (details to follow) on Sunday the 18th.

Minority Reporter

Due to some unforeseen technical glitches, this site’s about 4 weeks overdue for launch.  Thanks to the inimitable Ms. O for guiding me through the setup.   Hopefully, I’ll be able to beat my mighty chest and bore people senseless with my opinions without begging her for too much more help in the future.

I’m starting this blog to spout off on the many social justice, political and environmental issues I care about, as well as putting my stance on record.  I don’t believe this site is likely to topple the government, but I will use it to stake out my territory outside of their supposed constituency of the silent majority.

I’m happy to engage in discussion of the issues, and to hear contrary views, as long as it remains civil disunion.

I didn’t get home until late from an organising meeting for the March 17th rally commemorating the 4th anniversary of the war in Iraq, so tomorrow the blogging will begin in earnest.

This Site is Under Construction

I promise to get it up and going before David Hicks is free; Kyoto is ratified or John Howard says sorry.

Until it’s complete, you’ll have to console yourselves with the following list of reasons to vote Liberal…