http://www.ainfos.ca/ainfos12786.html SANITY AT LAST Almost a year after the twin towers suicide bombing, sanity has prevailed. The Howard governments attempts to strip away what few common law rights Australian's enjoy, without the threat of arbitrary detention, arrest and imprisonment, will be blocked in the Senate in the next few days. The Australian Labor Party facing another term in the political wilderness, has for the first time in over a decade made a stand that delineates it's policies from the Liberal National Parties policies. After facing a vigorous campaign that has included people from all walks of life and all political persuasions, it has succumbed to a campaign that focused on the idea that the A.S.I.O. bill was targeted at crushing internal dissent, not fighting terrorism. The Anarchist Media Institute and People Against Regressive Legislation have been at the forefront of this movement. While most other radical groups buried their heads in the sand and accepted the A.S.I.O bill as a fait accompli, we placed our energies into the campaign to block the A.S.I.O. bill. We understood that without that common law space, that gives Australian's the power to protest, the State would have been able to crush any campaign it wanted to. We would like to thank all those supporters who backed our efforts. We would like to thank all those people who wrote, sent e-mails, faxes, made telephone calls and took part in the demonstrations and occupations which were directed at the Australian Labour Party, to shame and encourage them to block the A.S.I.O. bill in the Senate. Without our supporter's active participation in this campaign, the A.L.P. would not have blocked this draconian legislation. It's important we celebrate our victories and acknowledge those involved in those victories. The rejection of Howard's draconian A.S.I.O. bill in the Senate, is a watershed in Australian radical history. We have drawn a line in the sand, beyond which the State has not been able to pass. As we celebrate this historic victory, it's important we remember the lesson, that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, by those who enjoy those freedoms. More http://www.ainfos.ca/ainfos12786.html The Howard government has a proud track record of introducing and steering legislation through parliament, whose sole purpose is social engineering. The government�s successful attempts to overturn the Northern Territories euthanasia laws, their attitudes to paid maternity leave, their attempts to close down heroin injection rooms, their punitive approaches to Australians who receive unemployment benefits, disability support pensions and single parents benefits, as well as their attitude to single sex parents and children, are just some of the ways they have attempted to create a society that mirrors their ideological perception of how people should live their lives.
