The other day the Australian government responded to a shooting by proposing new legislation that would lower the age required to impose court ordered restrictions on a persons movements or communications. They state that this is for anti-terrorist and terrorist prevention, and the age change proposed would be from the current requirements (16 years old) to 14 years old. This would mean that with court order a 14 year old suspected of terrorism could be monitored by the government. Although this proposal was a direct response to a shooting the Attorney General also states that it would help in preventing action of the terrorist group ISIS in Australia and would help limit the problem by keeping it from spreading.
Although not directly related to US politics I was curious as to what your opinions on the legislation were as well as if something similar could ever pass here with all the checks balances and hoops it would have to go through (including public opinion). Although it is still unclear if this legislation will pass in Australia what are your opinions on privacy? Should a known terrorist/ terrorist sympathizer be allowed unmonitored and unlimited access to the internet? Would this be considered a breach of 1st amendment rights in America and when would those rights be ok to breach if ever?
Proposal
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
It is a bit unfortunate that Australia would do this in response to a terrorist attack. I am assuming that this new piece of legislation is in reply to what happened at the police shooting at Parramatta and the threat of Daesh in the Middle East. Even though there was a leadership spill that gave Tony Abbott the boot, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is not much better in terms of national security. The liberal party (conservative in the US) of Australia seems to love to play xenophobic games when it comes to national security. Tony Abbott, before he got ousted, spewed Islamophobic rhetoric that made many Australian Muslims feel isolated within their own country. This piece of legislation would go also allow for the Australian government to detain a suspected terrorist for a longer period of time. Most of the law was also inspired by British laws concerning terrorism and detention. If Australia continues to pursue harsher terrorism laws, especially ones that concern young people, the government is running a risk of perhaps radicalizing Australian civilians.
Post a Comment