Senator Andrew Bartlett
Friday, November 04, 2005
 
Displaying my seditious intent - Urging disaffection against the Commonwealth Government
Having recalled the Senate yesterday, at one day’s notice, to pass an ‘urgent’ amendment to the Criminal Code, the Government also finally tabled the formal version of their terror legislation.

The government also finally recognised that a Senate Committee Inquiry of less than five days duration into major legislation impacting on the freedom of every Australian was grossly inadequate, and agreed to my amendment that provided an extra three weeks time for examination. This was a welcome change from when I first moved this amendment two weeks earlier, when I was accused by a government Senator of putting “the public interest at risk for the sake of an extension of the Senate going through its committee procedure”.

Details of the Senate Inquiry can be found here. Submissions are due in by the end of next week. This is still far too short a time frame, but at least some degree of public examination and analysis will now be possible. I’ll wait for that process to occur before commenting in detail on the legislation, but there is one component which I’ll draw attention to, because I want to comment on it while it’s still lawful to do so.

Even though the government is now saying that some time down the track they might review the definition of sedition or the need for such an offence, that hasn’t stopped them from taking this opportunity to add a new definition of “seditious intention” to the Crimes Act – as detailed here:

seditious intention means an intention to effect any of the following purposes:
(a) to bring the Sovereign into hatred or contempt;
(b) to urge disaffection against the following:
(i) the Constitution;
(ii) the Government of the Commonwealth;
(iii) either House of the Parliament;
(c) to urge another person to attempt to procure a change, otherwise than by lawful means, to any matter established by law of the Commonwealth;
(d) to promote feelings of ill-will or hostility between different groups so as to threaten the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth.
I think these new laws seriously weaken the foundation of democracy, unreasonably curtail freedom of speech and play into the hands of terrorists. Any government that proposes laws such as these should be condemned as being more concerned about their own power then they are about the safety and freedom of the community. I therefore strongly “urge disaffection against the Government of the Commonwealth”.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Friday, November 04, 2005 Permalink
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