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May 10, 2002 Media Release

NSWALC CRITICISES ANTI-TERRORISM BILL

The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council has joined criticism of the Federal Government's new anti-terrorism bills, saying they will cause further erosion of citizen rights in Australia.

"This bill is a highly reactive piece of legislation which plays on fears of the people, exaggerated by our leaders in Canberra for the sake of political expediency," Chairman of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, Rod Towney said today.

Particularly problematic to the NSW Aboriginal Land Council are the parts of the bills which allow ASIO to detain people incommunicado, without trial, legal representation or the right to remain silent.

"The detainment aspects of these bills have dangerous implications for all Australians, especially Aboriginal people. We have seen through the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody that detention powers in this country are already being abused," Chairman Towney said.

"The Labor Government in the Northern Territory have recently repelled mandatory sentencing due to the fact that are open to human rights abuses."

The other area of concern for NSWALC is the Attorney-General's power to ban organisations, which would extend to many organisations devoted to human rights and lawful protest.

"We just have to look back to the Menzies' era to recall that the Government of the day does not always use its power with wisdom, but at times exploits and exaggerates fears of the community for political gains. Giving the Attorney General and ASIO this sort of unchecked power, will not ease community fears of terrorism, but rather make us vulnerable to abuses of power from within our own Government," Chairman Towney said.

Apart from these specific concerns with the legislation, the NSWALC also sees this move by Government as another example of the subtle way it is undermining human rights in Australia.

"In recent times, Mr Howard has implied that in order for Aboriginal people to move further towards economic independence, the rights we have worked so hard to achieve must be sacrificed," Mr Towney said.

"Aboriginal rights and human rights must not be eroded. We at the NSW Aboriginal Land Council believe rights underpin our personal security in the country. On issues such as national security, we say, let's tackle these issues with intelligence and foresight, on a foundation of secure and just citizen rights."