Compromising our freedom of speech

Under the proposed laws a person and his or her lawyer are denied access to the underlying information for the order being placed on them in the first place. These restrictions hinder the ability of a court to meaningfully review whether the orders have been validly used and further compound the potential violation of a person’s liberty under the laws. A person can be detained if the Australian Federal Police (AFP) suspect a person will engage in a terrorist act; possesses something connected with a terrorist act; or if the person has done, or will do, an act in preparation for a terrorist act. The terrorist act must be imminent, and expected to occur in the next 14 days or have occurred in the last 28 days.

Prime Minister John Howard still insisted that the new anti-terror laws were not intended to hamper freedom of speech and the laws would not stop journalists attacking government or prevent cartoonists lampooning politicians.

According to these proposed laws, journalists who report a suspected terrorist can be detained by police and could be jailed for five years. Police would also have the power to detain journalists if it is deemed necessary in order to “preserve” evidence relating to a terrorist attack. Journalists would have no right to protect confidential sources and the police could raid newsrooms and seize documents for their investigations.

The former prime minister, Malcolm Fraser,  urged Prime Minister Howard to abandon the anti-terror laws. The Liberal veteran called the Liberal Party a party of fear and reaction. And he said he was considering his resignation from the party over the government's stance on anti-terror laws.

Former chief justice of the High Court, Sir Anthony Mason, commenting on the laws said, “Neither ASIO nor the attorney general is a suitable guardian of individual rights”. Amnesty International Australia also expressed its concern while acknowledging the duty of governments to keep their citizens safe but not at the expense of fundamental freedoms and basic human rights.

According to many observers and analysts, the communities at risk from these sedition laws would be the Australian Muslim community, the anti-globalisation and anti-war protest movements, freelance journalists and ethnic media that already have no strong mainstream voice.

The operations and actions under these sedition laws would eventually damage internationally the image of Australian freedom of speech.