Heres the contacts for MPs and Senators for the Commonwealth. Write to them and tell them how disgusted you are they have passed the completely unjustified and invasive anti-terror laws. Sample email thanks to Campbell Marsh To XXXXX I am writing to you to express my dissatisfaction at the news that the senate has passed the recent package of anti-terrorism laws. These laws are extremely disturbing in their ability to impinge upon, silence and outright punish not only members of the media, but Australias citizens themselves. In case you are unfamiliar, here are some bullet points from the new laws: Anyone including journalists, whistle blowers and bloggers who recklessly discloses information [that] relates to a special intelligence operation faces up to 10 years gaol. This includes people sharing information unwittingly on social media. The new laws also allow ASIO to seek just one warrant to access a limitless number of computers on a computer network when attempting to monitor a single target. While monitoring, ASIO officers have the power to modify, copy or delete data on your personal computer. ASIO to be allowed to gain access to certain types of surveillance devices without a warrant. Protection from civil and criminal liability for ASIO officers. I ask you why Australia needs such stringent new laws when by your own admission, our law enforcement agencies have acted decisively and effectively in the face of threats without for many years? Surely, if anything, these laws reveal a stunning lack of faith by the Government in our current law enforcement personnel that they could continue successfully protecting the Australian public. In terms of on-line privacy, it has been no secret that both major parties have been trying to introduce the very unpopular policy of internet surveillance for a number of years. Now in 2014 the tax payer has once again been left with the bill for a swath of bizarre surveillance laws, rendered ineffective as soon as they were introduced by widely used and completely legal consumer privacy technology. Surely this blunder alone is terms for repeal? In fact, the only reason the legs have been knocked out of the new laws before they even began is because Australians take their privacy very seriously. I implore you: listen to the Australian people. We do not want ASIO snooping around our private lives. We do not want ASIO modifying, copying or deleting data on our computers. We do not want surveillance of our private and lawful on-line activities. It is imperative that you remember that as with every citizen of this great country that no one is above the rule of law, including ASIO and its agents. This Governments strange adherence to secrecy and silence whilst being elected on a platform of transparency is enough alone to show that they cannot be trusted to act in the best interests of the Australian people. Australians deserve to know what is committed in their name and a free, healthy democratic society needs whistle blowers and dissenting opinion as the implied freedom of political communication gives rise to a system of representative and responsible governance. Im struggling to find a better definition of the word irony as what is on display in these new laws and their persecution of whistle blowers. In broad stokes, it would seem the Government is all too happy to invade the Australian publics privacy and confidentiality, unless that same scrutiny is placed on the Government itself. To borrow a party line from the front bench itself: If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear. So I ask you: What is it that you fear so much that you would attempt to squash the certainty of free speech? I eagerly await your response. Regards
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 22:45:12 +0000
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