Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma and Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia would have plenty to say about the Australian government's new anti-terrorism legislation. It terrifies me.
History shows that these laws are always abused. It's just a matter of time. Politicians are too often corrupt, and the police force is too blunt an instrument, to be trusted with these draconian powers. I'll say it again: these laws will be abused. It's just a matter of time.
The government ("trust us") has kicked off the process by allowing Parliament just one week to review the legislation and by suppressing any publication of the draft act. We only know what they're planning because the Chief Minister of the ACT has posted the act on his website and is refusing government directives to remove it.
The most infuriating thing is that I don't believe these laws will really make us safer.
My old friend Ben Franklin said it best:
They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security
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