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Secrecy, silence and state terror: the government's 'anti-terrorist' laws promote fear and secrecy as they undermine democracy.

Article Excerpt
Since the September 11 attacks, a national 'terrorist' legal infrastructure has emerged in Australia. At the base of this infrastructure is the broad statutory definition of a 'terrorist act'; a term which, at its margins, embraces some industrial action and political protest. Built upon this definition is a range of 'terrorism' offences that travel far beyond acts like bombings and hijackings that are popularly considered terrorism. These offences not only criminalise 'terrorist acts' but also conduct ancillary to 'terrorist acts'. For example, a 'terrorism' offence is committed by merely possessing anything potentially connected with a 'terrorist act'.

A key element in the 'terrorist' legal infrastructure is the granting of unprecedented powers to Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. ASIO now has the power to compulsorily question and detain persons aged over eighteen who are suspected of having information relating to a 'terrorism' offence. Persons aged between sixteen to eighteen years of age can be subject to such powers if suspected of a 'terrorism' offence. Such powers can be exercised once a warrant is issued. With such warrants, detention can occur for consecutive periods of seven days with detainees being questioned for up to twenty-four hours, or forty-eight hours if an interpreter is used. During questioning, detainees have no right to silence and have only a highly circumscribed right to legal representation. Moreover, detainees can be subject to body and strip searches.

In a robust democracy, the activities of ASIO and particularly the exercise of such novel...

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