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Darren Churchill ACT- Media Release: 26th February, 2010: Proposed police powers laws labelled “Draconian” by Democrats
- Media Release: 22nd January 2010: ACT Democrats join Great Australian Internet Blackout.
- Media Release: 20th January 2010: Canberrans must have a guarantee that South Australian Movie Laws won’t be copied by ACT Assembly, say Democrats.
- Media Release: 14th January 2010: Canberrans Need Action Not Words in Opposing Internet Censorship, say Democrats
- Media Release: 02 December: Canberrans Let Down as Humphries Toes Party Line, say Democrats
- Begin Rant – Kathryn Crosby
Your Civil Rights overruled by Police Convenience: Strip-Searching your ‘Designated Areas’ at Will and without Consequence.
Big Brother 2.0 ?
The amendments to the Summary Offences & Control of Weapons Act that enable police to strip-search citizens at will are deeply disturbing.
I share the deep repugnance of YACVIC, the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria, at the Brumby Labor Government’s bill. They are aghast and rightly so.
The legislation empowers police to search at will or ‘move on’ individuals who are likely to breach the peace or endanger the safety of others who haven’t otherwise desisted from an illegal act.
Can any of us take our freedoms so for granted that we let this slip idly by?
It’s one thing to give police proper authority to act and to trust their professionalism and training. They are magnificent at their job, but they remain police – not psychics.
Let’s be fair. We don’t want to impede their essential work, but a millennium of the Common Law is being overturned here: surely they should form a reasonable suspicion first. This bill would no longer require it.
Should they really be empowered to stop someone, perhaps even a child, before they’ve formed a considered opinion of a person’s intent? The echoes of Police Union boss Greg Davies have scarcely faded on the presumption of guilt.
Before us is a Bill empowering police to search any individual – including children, for the legislation lists no age limit to these search powers.
What’s even more ghastly is that the state government sheepishly concedes the bill flies in the face of its own Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities”.
Well done to YACVIC for bringing our attention to this insidious weakening of our hard-earned civil rights, and shame on the government for its hypocrisy.
The YACVIC position can be viewed here.
Tags: affairs council, australia, Australian Democrats, australians, big brother 2, blog, brumby, business, charter of human rights, choices, conservatives, democrat, democratic, democrats, echoes, greg davies, hypocrisy, illegal act, individual liberty, labor government, labour party, police union, political thought, politics, presumption of guilt, professionalism, psychics, reasonable suspicion, repugnance, rights and responsibilities, search powers, sectional interests, self interest, senate, senator, socialists, sound foundations, summary offences, union boss, victorians, youth affairs
