The Big End of town receives different justice from mainstream punters. Similarly, Australia’s spooks enjoy the lightest of parliamentary supervision because a key committee is dominated by MPs whose actions, and a recent speech, clearly demonstrate they are part of the intelligence elite, instead of being disassociated, separate monitors for the community. With security agencies and police gaining ever more intrusive Identity, surveillance and detention powers, the unbalanced holding of such secret forces to account is a worry for civil liberties, rights and freedoms across Australia.
Also, read about how the Home Affairs Department, under Minister Peter Dutton, wants to introduce a facial recognition system to Australia like those with a 90%-plus failure rate in the UK. Other items include:
- Budget snippets with liberties implications that you may have missed
- Security beefed up to fight yesterday’s battle
- Why Australia needs a War Powers Act
- Honest, diligent cop compensated after 50 years
- Jailed youth are overwhelmingly ill, not evil
- Should we hold a ‘Dutton for a Day’ day?
- Chinese manipulate brainwaves to boost production
SINGLE COLUMN (read on screen)
TWO COLUMN (print, read over a break)