Monday 7 November, 2005

Bi-weekly report from the Nautilus Institute at RMIT, Australia.

1. A Lot Of Trust To Ask For
2. Army On The March
3. Furious Spies Tell PM To ‘Butt Out’
4. Iraq: War By Other Means

Special Report: Salient Documents Relating To The Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005

1. A Lot Of Trust To Ask For, Geoffrey Barker, AFR, 2005-11-07

   Future consequences are the main worries concerning radical new terrorism and industrial relations laws*, with traditional legal and economic rights under serious, simultaneous threat.

   * subscription required

2. Army On The March, Tracy Sutherland, AFR, 2005-11-05

   Federal cabinet is to consider expanding the army* and increasing its military deployment in Afghanistan.

   of related interest:

   http://sunday.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/political_transcripts/ article_1905.asp

3. Furious Spies Tell PM To ‘Butt Out’, Frank Walker, Age, 2005-11-06

   FRONT-LINE intelligence officers are furious that Prime Minister John Howard may have endangered their operation against suspected terrorists in Australia by revealing it to the public, according to former ASIS agent, Warren Reed.

4. Iraq: War By Other Means, Derek Woolner, APO Research Centre, 2005-10-27

   Currently the government argues that Australian troops are in Iraq to prevent the situation worsening. Events in Iraq will probably deliver a representative parliament and effective security forces but these will not be institutions to build a united country. Neither will Iraqi democracy be of the liberal democratic model that the Bush Administration had thought would inspire change throughout the Middle East.

Special Report: Salient Documents Relating To The Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005

The current legislation before the Australian Parliament aims to amend the terrorism offences in divisions 101 and 102 of the Criminal Code Act of 1995. Included here are links to the bill and related sites.

Text and analysis of the “Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005”: Susan Rimmer, “Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005”, Bills Digest No. 62, Parliament of Australia, Parliamentary Library 3 November 2005: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/BD/2005-06/06bd062.pdf

Of related interest:

Parliamentary Library E-Brief on terrorism-related legislation, Susan Harris-Rimmer and Nigel Brew, “Proposals to further strengthen Australia’s counter-terrorism laws – 2005”: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/LAW/TerrorismLaws.htm

Inquiry into the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism (No.2) Bill 2005, Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee: http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/legcon_ctte/terrorism/index.htm

“Terrorism Chronology”, Parliament of Australia, Parliamentary Library. This guide details legislative and other legal developments at the federal level since 11 September 2001. http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/law/terrorism.htm