Quaint, it ain't
The notion that anyone could be carted off to jail these days for
sedition seems faintly preposterous -- almost in the same league as being transported as a convict to Australia for nicking someone's hanky. But we're there with the anti-terror laws. Far from taking us back to the 1950s, John Howard seems hell bent on going even further back in time -- to the 1850s, the 1750s ... back to when it was a very serious crime to rubbish the government. What has happened here, that things should have got to this point? The
Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law (
http://www.gtcentre.unsw.edu.au/) provides a detailed guide to the government’s proposals in its publication "
Briefing on sedition offences in the Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005". It's at
http://www.sisr.net/apo/SeditionBriefing05.pdf. Be informed.
Posted by belinda at December 1, 2005 09:08 AM