In a country like Australia, many people have taken human rights for granted. As children we were taught that the rule of law prevails and that justice is available for all.

I can remember being told that, unlike the United States, we did not need a Bill of Rights simply because we had the common law and the common law would protect the rights of all citizens. Now, unfortunately, we know that these hopes and beliefs, these assurances, are false.

In a country like Australia human rights are under attack. We are becoming increasingly aware that our traditional approach to human rights has not protected the rights of important minorities. Indigenous persons, in particular, were excluded by the law for a long time, and even today suffer shameful discrimination in both policy and attitude. In terms of indigenous policy, Australia is two or three decades behind countries like New Zealand, Canada and Northern European countries.

The attack on human rights is also coming from another direction as a result of 9/11 and President Bush’s so called “War on Terror” — a war he has so far lost. His policies have made the threat of terrorism much worse than it was. And because Australia has so closely supported these policies we are also much more at risk than before.

Iraq had not supported Al Qaeda. It was a secular regime. It certainly did not support Muslim fundamentalism of any kind. Terrible as that regime was, we have turned the country into a far worse enemy of the west than it ever was. It has become the biggest terrorist factory in the world.

The BBC has just aired a program which focuses on the need to start talking to Al Qaeda. It makes the point that Islamic radicals, not only in Iraq but worldwide, have been given all the ammunition they need, all the propaganda they could possibly desire. American policies in the Middle East, perceived discrimination in favour of Israel and against Palestine, the occupation of Iraq itself, and the attempt to dominate the entire region are all factors which motivate fundamentalists. From their perspective they are defending their own. It is this basic appeal to patriotism which enables fundamentalists to gain so much support. That is why the insurrection in Iraq is so strong. It is also why, as the BBC program pointed out, recruiters in different parts of the world are able to persuade increasing numbers of young Muslims to join the fight in Iraq.

Because of the ‘terrorist threat’ that we have helped create, the Australian Government has legislated to give enormous power to people who should now be called our ‘secret police’. It has diminished the rule of law in serious ways. As I am advised, we are the only western democracy to legislate for the detention of the innocent. Any one of you reading this can be arrested, detained and taken to a secret place for a week at a time. You cannot tell your spouse or children where you are. The authorities don’t have to believe you are guilty of anything; they only have to believe you may have observed something which might be of interest to their anti-terrorist enquiries. The law also provides that you must answer questions to the satisfaction of the authorities. If you don’t, you can be charged and jailed for 5 years. It is a defence against that charge if you can prove that you never knew what the authorities thought you might know.

But how can you prove you didn’t know it, if you don’t know what they are talking about in the first place?

There are many other aspects of the Government’s anti-terrorism legislation that are cause for concern. The increased powers the authorities have been given, involving preventative detention and control orders, are reminiscent of the dictatorial provisions practiced in South Africa during the Apartheid regime.

The Australian Government has legislated more harshly in these areas than in many others. Other governments, including all European Governments, the United States and Canada, are restrained by bills of rights, which influence the way in which they can behave. We do not have a bill of rights. We are the only western country without one. If you read the Australian Constitution, you would find that it is all about the division of power between the Commonwealth and the States. There is virtually nothing in it protecting the rights of the individual.

These issues are important. We do not know how many people have been, and are being, detained for questioning under the security legislation. Reporting of these matters is heavily constrained. It is very easy for a journalist to go to jail if he or she prints the wrong thing. There needs to be greater consciousness of what is happening in Australia. Too many of us, I suspect, are not concerned because we believe these laws apply to people who are different; perhaps not like us, perhaps Muslim, perhaps brown skinned. That kind of thinking will land us all in grave danger because once discrimination starts, it spreads. Once governments have these powers they use them more and more.

The situation in Australia is serious for additional reasons. We do not have the checks and balances that are built into the United States constitution and into their Bill of Rights.

Free rein is given to our security agencies which would never be tolerated in the United States. There is a significant difference between the powers such authorities have in America and in Australia. In the United States a powerful committee of Congress oversights all the intelligence agencies. Their Congressional Committee is the final determinant of what it puts in its annual report. The President, for example, can object to part of their committee’s annual report but it can’t prevent something being written or reported.

In Australia our position is quite different. ASIO effectively, subject to the agreement of the Attorney General, has the power to censor the report of the Parliamentary Oversight Committee. This is a grave and serious deficiency and shows the arbitrary power that has been given to Australia’s secret police. That the Parliament tolerates it is beyond comprehension. The only way we are going to change this position is by educating Australians so that people become angry and bring pressure to bear on politicians and political parties.