Sweet Dreams: Don’t Let the Bugged Bed Bite
- Author:
- Lawrence Gibbons
- Posted:
- Thursday, 21 October 2010
You can slumber blissfully tonight. If a terrorist is sleeping under the bed, the NSW Police still have the right to enter your premises without a search warrant. Or if your neighbour is a suspected religious fanatic, police can use your house for surveillance without telling you for up to six months. Last month, with barely any media coverage, public discussion or political debate, emergency police powers granted to the NSW police force were quietly extended for another three years. First enacted in 2002, in the wake of the September 11th bombings, the State Parliament has once again extended police powers. So used have we all become to living in a constant state of terror that no one bats an eye when the police are regularly granted extraordinary search and seizure powers. This time around, when the Terrorism (Police Powers) Amendment Bill 2010 was tabled by the Local Member for Marrickville Carmel Tebbut, not even the Greens bothered to oppose it.
When State Labor first rolled out their anti terrorist laws in 2002, we were told the laws were only temporary measures. At the time of their introduction, then State Attorney General Bob Debus assured the Parliament. “The powers set out in this Bill are not designed or intended to be used for general policing… These powers are extraordinary and have only been permitted with the strictest of safeguards.” We should have known better. Following the Cronulla race riots in 2005, extraordinary police powers were expanded from the authority to search for terrorists without a warrant to the power to impose martial law in select areas during times of potential unrest. Police were granted the right to lock down entire suburbs and promptly cordoned off Bondi Beach, searching vehicles without warrants, preventing cars from entering the eastern suburbs and entering buses seizing innocent commuters’ mobile phones in search of text messages from potential rioters. At the time the powers were invoked, no rioting had occurred. In 2007 in the lead up to APEC, police powers were extended over the northern half of the Central Business District with much of the City’s waterfront declared a no-go-zone. In 2009 the right to search for terrorists was extended to a raft of criminal activities. Assessing the new law’s implication at the time, Nicola McGarrity from the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law noted two problems with the newest police powers: “First, the power is not limited to searches of the premises of suspected criminals. It could be used to search innocent people’s homes or to gain covert access to adjoining premises… Second, and most importantly, the bill gives a greater power to the police to conduct covert searches in relation to ordinary criminal offences than they currently have in relation to terrorism cases.”
And so our civil liberties here in Sydney have been eroded step by step by step. Emergency police powers that were first introduced to combat a possible terrorist threat have now become common place. Last month’s decision to extend police powers yet again all but ensures that anti terrorism laws will remain enshrined in law in perpetuity. Unbridled police powers in the hands of opportunistic politicians or corrupt cops should cause concern for any citizen in a democratic society. Here in Sydney the police force has a history of criminal conduct, borne out by many a Royal Commission. Allowing police to enter premises without a judicially supervised warrant leaves open the very real threat that police may tamper with or plant evidence.
One month before the State’s anti terrorism laws were first enacted, State Premier Bob Carr told the ABC, “In a democracy you’ve got to entertain a healthy suspicion of security agencies and police powers.” Muhamed Haneef would no doubt endorse Carr’s hollow sentiment. In the dying days of John Howard’s Prime Ministership, the Indian born, Muslim Medical Doctor was detained under similar Federal laws without charge and was falsely accused of being a terrorism suspect after a distant cousin was involved in the London underground bombing. His visa was revoked and he was deported to Bangalore. A Federal Court overturned the Howard government’s actions. The change of Federal Governments has not led to a relaxing of draconian police powers at a state or national level. If anything, the Federal Labor government’s decision to back track on its promise to establish a Charter of Human Rights last year ensures that there are no judicial checks or balances against excessive police powers in our allegedly democratic society.
Like this article? Register as a subscriber here. It's free! We'll keep you up to date with new stories on the site.
October 22nd, 2010 @ 12:42 pm
what a great story, thanks for having the balls to write and print this!
October 23rd, 2010 @ 3:50 pm
I see nothing wrong with monitoring a potential terrorist. But wait, you do because WAAAAH POLICE ARE IN MY HOUSE, my house which was paid for out of my parents money from a loan taken from a bank, built by a large corporation using foreign materials imported by another large business. If you don’t want ‘government intrusion’ go live in Somalia, otherwise stop your whining and rebellious attitudes.
October 24th, 2010 @ 10:33 pm
Chris, I’m not quite sure what you’re trying to say.
But the fact is that the police have no right to monitor you without going through the proper channels and getting permission from the courts, otherwise the system is open to corruption.
Even if you “have nothing to hide” it’s still worrying to think that the police have access to my personal life, because it’s just that, PERSONAL! I’m not sending incriminating messages through my email, or facebook, but I don’t want strangers reading that stuff either. It belongs to me, and whoever I choose to share it with.
Simple metaphor. I go to the bathroom at least a couple of times a day. That doesn’t mean I’d shit in a glass cube in the middle of George St.
October 31st, 2010 @ 9:08 pm
Chris has obviously never had his, or a member of his family or a friends door kicked in the in the middle of the night, by nameless men, for groundless reasons, other than “state security”, and him or his family or friends taken away never to be seen again as they pose a “threat to national security”.
I see everything wrong with monitoring a potential terrorist. What is a terrorist? Can you define it Chris? Is dissent terror? When does dissent become terror?
Rebellious attitudes got you the freedoms that you enjoy today Chris, you should be thankful that people keep the spirit alive.
October 31st, 2010 @ 11:09 pm
Interesting point Jason
November 2nd, 2010 @ 1:14 am
If you click on the link next to my name you will see how much of a police state nsw has come. The NSW Greens predicted this law: 60C NSW Crimes Act (that incriminates you for the crime of knowing police crime) would provide “a running cover for corrupt police”.
But when those corrupt police turn out to be bent to the Greens don’t want to do anything. Click the link to see the hansard quotes if you don’t believe me. It’s a case of GAY POWER “rights” before human rights the Greens identified themselves, but god forbid the voters can’t find out what the Greens were like.
Here I am begging to the only people who were against these crazy laws, and they put Gay sexers votes before my freedom and liberty.
Sydney’s Green Left editor and firends Rachel Evans are busy campaigining for gay sex in public parks, and getting police procedures changes as a result
(http://www.beatproject.org.au/police-tactics/police-training-initiative/) but when I complain against special gay police I’m public enemy number 1
This website proves this madeness (it’s a joke first “outlaw motorcycle gang law” as introduced by Michael Costa gets used against little old me by gay police. It’s a sign of a world gone mad) http://www.police.go.kr/eng/ Civil Board – Page 10 Luke McKee “am I a fugative” – see I was talking about this insane “gang law” amended by the 2006 Gang laws bill long before the recent “bikie” phobia.
I hope it makes you sick, because I assure you my suffering over the last 4 years in exile has made me so.
November 3rd, 2010 @ 2:42 am
Hey Luke, thanks for contributing to the discussion! What does everybody else think of this?
November 3rd, 2010 @ 6:17 am
I don’t know what everyone else thinks. I’ve got death & sodomy threats + stalkers galore and the whole harrasment brigade because [REMOVED FOR LEGAL PURPOSES] lady in waiting to become our first female police comissioner is personally invovled.
I had to marry out of the country to get a new life. The others accused of 60c before me weren’t bikies. First OLMG (“bikie gang law”) never used against the bikies. I bet the Libs/Labor don’t want the punters to know that one.
The very concept of such a law being marketed towards a demonized group, then never being used against them is as stupid as the yanks using the RICO laws (as featured in Batman Dark Knight) against non-mafia people for the first time.
Be sure to click the link next to my name, and get to see photo a special gay cop sent to my house doing bidding for my local-lesbian-gay-cop-fire-broker of a neighbour. It’s 5 years jail if you look at it because your “obtaining personal information” about a police officer. If I tell you her lesbian federal police officer girlfriends name is [REMOVED FOR LEGAL PURPOSES] you must go to jail for 5 years. Saying you had no indent to do harm after merely reading this post is no defense against YOUR CRIME OF READING THIS and clicking the link because “the prosecution isn’t required to prove an intent to do harm, just that you mearly obtained the information” from 60B NSW Crimes Act.
November 3rd, 2010 @ 6:20 am
continued – just mentioning words relating to g a y ness is being blocked by wordpress. you can’t talk about any discrimination or criminal acts motived by that sexual preference or your hate/thought criminal it seems.
Your guilty of knowing a special g ay is gay too. To think the police actually did a raid on my house with 5 detectives, and kicked your door down for this crime. That’s after getting of in court when they came in to help an illegial immigrant get a police issued criminal justice bridging visa to overrule and immigration expulsion order for earlier document fraud on the ex’s part. L-WORDER Police visa issuers? WTF! Tell me another way to extend a visa if immigration is deporting you? In Korea it’s a G-1 visa – for going to court. In Australia it’s a CJV visa (criminal justice bridging visa) – they also have another similar CJV for sex slaves to called a bridging visa F.
No other country has the same law so I can’t be extradited, except from NZ , because Australia and NZ no longer exist, they are the same country that’s about to become the AP union.
Section 19 of the extradiction act is being deleted so you can be taken/extradited from Australia without going to an Australian court as rubber stapped by polictians (immigration minister). Visa versa applies so even though I’m a NZ citizen I can’t go there for fear of being extradited automatically for a crime that’s none existant in NZ. If you don’t believe me just google “dual criminality discretionary – backing of warrants scheme”
The Greens don’t want you to know this because they love the idea of global government, and thought-crime laws that empower special GLLO police that can accuse you of the crime of knowing knowing they are gay – when they are out on the town doing postive discrimination of G-AE minorities.
It’s legal btw, the anti-discrimination act in NSW allow gay people to legally discriminate against you for any reason in any situtation.
The facebook stuff was taken down proving that bold claim about the ADB policy and law regarding hetro on straight abuse (Pevert the Course of Justice = 18 years jail but legal in the eyes of the ADB) but you’ll find pdfs of some of it here for the next month only.
November 3rd, 2010 @ 6:29 am
links
tinyurl.com/60c-uncut (the raw details lots of pics & docos)
tinyurl.com/60c-stats (proof it’s the rarest crime in Australia)
drop.io/corruptioninc a whole bunch of unsorted documents related to the case and the earlier matter (that really motives my special treatment)
drop.io/hlqio0l (a pdf of what was taken down recently showing how ga-Y on straight discrimination in any form (including to the point of criminality) is LEGAL in the eyes of the NSW Anti-discrimination board. I didn’t report it as gay on straight discrimination because I knew about that loophole since day one, I reported it as sex based discrimination.
The NSW ADB doesn’t have any evidence to know that I was saying the gay cop was definately gay, just a GLLO (gay and lesbian liasion officer) and don’t have the guts to put their decision in writing – just some kind of thank you message.
I FOI’ed them and the government on a few other things but FOI’s are voluntary. Speaking of FOI I did one before I was accused of the crime of obtaining information.
The details have been put online.
It’s a crime to know Police crime. That’s why I’m setting up the next wikileaks that works on a different principle. the Citizens Ombudsman organization will build dossiers on Police corruption, which is a crime to do under S60C NSW Crimes Act.
It’s in it charter to do that.
If you join the website to read police corruption data, your guilty of 60c. If you call me twice with in a 6 month period you must go to jail for 2 years for breaching the criminal organisation control bill 2009 for partipating in a criminal group. The defination of a criminal group is any group that breaks any law that’s been merely listed in the Government Gazette that nobody reads.
Don’t expect any justice when you go to a special thought crime court. You wont be able to know why the COO is a criminal organization because that police intelligence is secret. You must be tried by a judge that’s been hand picked my Hatzistigos who’s recently told me to go f….
have a nice day! In Australia. Get out while you still can like I did. you are all slaves. Not being an Australian has made me Free, a Free Australian.
November 5th, 2010 @ 11:02 am
http://ryanwalsh.info/shared/mckee/
listen to that people.
the one link when this idiot is in court. what he says in his defence in removing the lady from the premises and what he says for the actual police statement.
two different things.
boom tish.
November 4th, 2011 @ 10:21 pm
GIVE POWER TO THE POLICE THEYRE PROTECTING US LET THEM DO THEYRE JOB YOU UNGRATEFULL BUNCH IF YOU HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT