Every state and territory leader, plus the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, has nodded vigorously in agreement to the Turnbull government's new anti-terror measures, all of them eager to make public safety the supreme law. The changes announced yesterday by the Prime Minister infringe significantly on civil liberties and curtail traditional freedoms.
They may well be necessary but, other than the need to keep Australians safe, no explanation has been offered for this new clampdown. Safe from what, just now? Is the terror threat suddenly worse? Why else are the states falling in behind Canberra in lockstep?
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Turnbull to push COAG over terror laws
The Prime Minister wants to be able to detain terror suspects for up to 14 days, and for drivers license photos to be given to federal authorities. Vision courtesy: ABC News.
Yesterday's special security meeting of the Council of Australian Governments agreed to three things: to allow authorities to hold terrorism suspects for up to 14 days without charge; to make available driver's licence photos to security agencies for identification purposes; and to broaden terrorism crimes to include hoaxes and the possession of terrorist instructional material.
Each may seem a minor advance on what already exists. The first, for example, will bring other states into line with NSW, which already allows suspects to be held for 14 days. The second is more substantial. It will allow real-time scanning of people in public spaces (entering Commonwealth Games stadiums on the Gold Coast, for example). But is it complete – or just another step towards something more comprehensive? The Prime Minister says about half the population has an identity photograph in a federal database.
Even when driver's licence images are added, though, the whole population will still not be on file. Motivated would-be terrorists will still exist unidentified in our community. Young zealots, yet to obtain their licence, may well choose not to do so in order to avoid giving their mugshot to any database. Many of those who are attracted to extremism are young and impressionable, after all. That is why the new 14-day rule applies even to those as young as 14.
Mr Turnbull promises the government will be tireless and relentless in its efforts to keep Australians safe, so if flaws are found in this new system, we can expect security agencies will want access to other forms of photo identification – student cards, proof of age cards. And if these fail too, will a universal internal passport like the Hawke government's Australia Card be far behind?
By small increments like these, governments and their agencies assert more and more control. The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has described civil liberties concerns as "notional" and "a luxury". He fears a terrorist attack more than any reduction in personal freedom. With every new structure and procedure that is set up, Australians should ask themselves: how will this fail? What sort of things will happen when this new arrangement goes wrong?
With security and anti-terrorism measures, we already know the answer. Innocent people will be arrested and held for weeks. In the charged atmosphere which surrounds any anti-terrorism operation, reputations will be ruined first. Recompense and restitution will take years, if they are forthcoming at all. Those are not notional damages, nor is freedom from them a luxury.
Hopefully - eventually - terrorism will become a spent force, exhausted by political failure and public revulsion. But long after it does, these new encroachments on civil liberties will remain on our statute books, a real threat to the freedom terrorism could not defeat.
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