Mmmm, The sad fact of life is that apart from Human Rights (which largely speaking are ancillary rights endorsed by the UN in all its glory) we have very few personal rights in this country.
Free Speech? Nope - except for that awarded in an implied manner by the High Court in the Theophanous Case (to comment on matters political) Freedom of association? Hell no ... you can get nailed for associating with any number of undesirables or proscribed undesirable bodies, and indeed in NSW ex-crims can get nailed rather badly for associating with other ex-crims. It's a neat little catch-all for when nothing else will incriminate. Freedom of Religion - Nope. It's implied in a number of court cases ... but as far as I know not specified anywhere (of course, neither is the separation of Church and State specifically mentioned). Privacy - Only against the government, and then only in a limited manner specified in the Privacy Act. With private industry and individuals ... it's pretty much open slather. The bottom line is that certain inalienable rights are awarded under a Bill of Rights, and in the case of the US these are also backed up by the Constitution and its amendments. In Australia we have nothing. Of course, given the number of times the Bill of Rights in the UK and US, and the Constitution in the US, have been ignored in the past when put under ANY stress, it's probably a fair comment to say that both pieces of legislation are more an expression of good intent rather than hard-and-fast rules that will be followed in all instances .... but broadly speaking a country's citizenry is better off with a Bill of Rights than without one. In Australia the question has been put to our 'leaders' (and I use the term sarcastically) on many occasions and without fail, both left and right, have universally agreed that it would be much too good for us. As ignorant Australian bogans who only have a use to them once every three or four years, we don't deserve or need rights. Just my 2 cents worth ... --- On 18 Dec 2013, at 9:09 am, Rick Welykochy <[email protected]> wrote: > Frank O'Connor wrote: > >> And how far is that likely to go with our new Human Rights Commissioner? >> :) >> Non-issue for Australians I'm afraid ... we no longer have any human rights. >> Just my 2 cents worth ... > > Might I recommend the following book for all Australians. A very > good read, clearly written with case histories from Canada an > the UK, two countries that have a Bill (Statue) of Rights for > its citizens. Main point: such a bill is enacted and enforced > by law to protect citizens from abuses by its government. > > Statute Of Liberty > Geoffrey Robertson > > https://shop.abc.net.au/products/statute-of-liberty > > "This short book by Geoffrey Robertson QC is sure to become the > primer for this debate. He puts the case for an Australian Bill > of Rights cogently and dramatically, proving with evidence from > other countries how a statute of liberty helps ordinary citizens > and improves standards of governance and public services. > > He exposes the lies and urban myths the Australian people face from > opponents of the bill, and shows how the charter he has drafted > reflects the history and real contemporary values of Australians." > > The last sentence in the above quote is most important. Pollies > are very afraid of such a bill and will spin up disingenuous > disinformation campains to prevent from seeing the light of day. > > > cheers > rickw > > > > -- > ------------------------------------ > Rick Welykochy || Vitendo Consulting > > Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. > -- ancient wisdom > > _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
