Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I move the second reading amendment standing in my name:

        At the end of the motion, add:

        “But the Senate:

             (a)    condemns the bill’s 10 year sunset clause;

             (b)    believes that the legislation fundamentally infringes on the civil rights of Australians by:

                   (i)    undermining the presumption of innocence;

                  (ii)    denying proper legal representation to people who are suspected but not proven to be guilty of planning a terrorist act;

                 (iii)    giving very little protection to innocent people caught up in any anti-terrorist dragnet; and

                 (iv)    having no adequate provision for recompense in cases where people have been wrongly questioned and detained.

             (b)    calls upon the Government to develop a Bill of Rights to protect Australians’ human rights and civil liberties and to ensure that the Australian people know exactly where they stand with respect to all of the nation’s laws; and,

             (c)    believes these anti-terrorism laws form a dangerous precedent which leave open the possibility of expansion into other areas by a future ‘security conscious’ Federal Government, especially if coupled with the proposed ‘Access Card’ technology.”