McGinty's Lawful "Political Bloodsports".

Civil Liberties Out, Political Bloodsports In

We need to be vigilant when politicians such as Jim McGinty publicly posture about civil liberties and the need for a Bill of Rights. His record hardly lends itself to any convincing commitment to these concepts, except where there is some political benefit such as “one vote, one value”, or “gay” rights, to attract the Greens preferences and the like.

McGinty’s Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) Act has some striking parallels to George Bush’s USA Patriot Act. Both circumscribe or remove the protections of civil liberties that would normally be found in a Bill of Rights. Bills of Rights are not sacrosanct and their protections can be ephemeral. They can go out the door for short term political benefit such as in the Prostitution Bill 1999 which was enthusiastically supported by Jim McGinty as Shadow Attorney General.

Crime and Corruption Commission Act

Under McGinty’s CCC Act a police officer can at any time enter any place under suspicion, demand the production of any documents, records or articles they find. They can use force to enter any place; stop, detain, and search anyone at the place; photograph any person or thing, and make a copy of or seize any document without a warrant.

They can stop, detain, and search people without a warrant, stop vehicles, detain and search occupants even if the person is not be suspected of anything. They can seize anything without a warrant.

They can enter your house when you are not there, they can plant listening devices anywhere including your bedroom (so the eavesdropper does not die of boredom), tap your phone, intercept your emails and faxes. They don’t have to tell you later if you house was bugged and they don’t tell you if your phone, fax, email or bedroom has had the listening device removed. They can cross examine you about anything without allowing you to familiarise yourself with the detail. Then charge you if you get some of your facts wrong.

One wonders how CCC CEO Mike Silverstone would feel if the Commonwealth police refused to tell him, if they were bugging his bedroom over his involvement in the “Children Overboard” scandal and how he would feel if they refused to tell him when the bug was removed. [It was between Silverstone and the Captain of the “Adelaide” where the message was in dispute.] One of the Desert Rat’s maxims in life is to treat others as you would like them to treat you (cockroaches excepted).

One would not expect someone like CEO Mike Silverstone who has been on the public payroll for a large part of his life to know a bit about how to make government actually function and be proactive, rather than be buried in interminable process and red-tape.

George Bush’s USA Patriot Act

The United States Bill of Rights offered no protection in the wake of George Bush’s USA Patriot Act. There are surprising parallels with the WA Crime and Corruption Commission Act which also strips away the rights of ordinary citizens. Under that Act it can do all of the above plus more.

McGinty does not accept the Howard Government's assurances that it will not extend Work Choices after the election. Why should we believe McGinty won’t further attack our civil liberties.

Authoritarian governments always attack the civil liberties of their citizens. Under the USA Patriot Act the US Government can now abduct citizens and put them in military custody and hold them forever, without charging them with a crime or allowing them a lawyer or judicial review of any kind. They can now search a citizen’s home or office secretly without a warrant or probable cause. They can monitor citizen’s phone calls, internet use patterns, library and bookstore records. They can seize their papers and effects without a warrant or possible cause. They can monitor religious or political groups without suspecting criminal activity and can listen to prisoner / lawyer conversations with no judicial review. They can suspend habeas corpus indefinitely.

Prostitution Bill 1999

As the Shadow Attorney General, Jim McGinty said this Bill was “an important, but small step in dealing with the prostitution issue” and the “Bill has the wholehearted support of the (Labor) Opposition".

The Bill contained draconian powers to tackle street prostitution in North Perth by a few innocent, drug dependent young women peddling their wares. These powers were not available to tackle organised crime! Without the need for a warrant, police can enter premises, seize documents and other evidence and search people. They can stop vehicles, search occupants and seize document and other evidence. They can even compel a person to answer questions. Failure to comply with the latter has a penalty of 2 years imprisonment.

There are penalties of imprisonment for a maximum of 20 years if a prostitute has a sexually transmitted disease and 5 years if the infection was not life threatening.

If they have evidence of prostitution on them (such as condoms in their handbag) they could be liable to 2 years imprisonment. One would have thought a prostitute having condoms in her handbag would to be encouraged.

McGinty's hypocrisy is breathtaking. A Bill of Rights is of little protection when Parliament is in the hands of powerful people who have little respect for civil liberties.