The Parliament should also take the opportunity to remedy a big hole in the law in Queensland by providing a right to those who are wrongfully convicted of a criminal offence to claim compensation.
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The QCCL urges the Queensland Government to implement the recommendations of the Honourable Alan Wilson KC’s Review urgently to ensure that whistleblower protection in Queensland is robust and fit for purpose.
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Why is the government indulging in this reprehensible behaviour? Because it is trying to arrest its way out of the youth crime problem. The Council accepts that there is a youth crime problem. However, this problem cannot be solved by arresting and detainig more children”
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“The inability of government to act as arbiter in its own cause means that freedom of speech includes the right to make false claims about social and political matters. In order to sustain uninhibited political discourse, the state cannot prevent resort to exaggeration or offence or even to false statements”, says Mr Cope
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Mr O’Gorman said there is clearly a problem with a cohort of juveniles committing car thefts and violent crime but attacking Judges and Magistrates who cannot defend themselves publicly is a cheap and easy political stunt.
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This legislation was introduced in 2004 at the peak of concerns about terrorism. Since then, we have learned that the law inappropriately prioritizes the secrecy of national security information over the administration of justice
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The Folbigg Pardon highlights the necessity to establish a national Criminal Cases Review Commission in Australia.
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The Council accepts that the public exhibition of sexual activities should be banned. However, we also take the view that nude beaches should be permitted so long as they are in secluded areas and are known and clearly marked as nude beaches. If necessary, the State Government or relevant local councils should take steps to designate nude beaches and to mark and publicize them appropriately.
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The Civil Liberties Council calls on the Premier to intervene in this farcical controversy and bring Queensland in line with the rest of the country and outlaw police using the fatal stranglehold completely in absolutely all cases”, Mr O’Gorman said.
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“The QCCL looks forward to the review recommending changes to the current whistleblower laws that significantly improve the protection for those who breach government secrecy in the public interest” says Mr Cope
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“To deprive the public and the Coroner of the best possible evidence namely the audio and video of SERT body worn cameras is unbelievable”, Mr O’Gorman said.
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Why haven’t the guideline judgment provisions of the Queensland Penalties and Sentencing Act been used by the Premier and the Police Minister to ask the Appeal Court to remedy supposedly soft sentences by Magistrates?
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“Fortunately, Mr Sofronoff found it most unlikely that any innocent people have been wrongly convicted as a result of the lab failures. However, the UK Commission has variously estimated that between two to five percent of the British prison population at any given time are victims of miscarriages of justice. We see no reason why that would not be the case here.”
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“The fact that people who complain that they are the victims of sexual offences are given lifelong anonymity and under the Attorney-General’s proposal people merely accused of such offences will be named shows how the balance between protecting the rights of the accuser and the accused is being so wrongly and unfairly skewed towards the accuser”, Mr O’Gorman said.
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“The traditional requirement that before a search can proceed there must be a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed or a weapon found is a bulwark protection of our liberty. Such a requirement is essential to being able to prevent arbitrary searches or searches based on bias. The granting of such powers will inevitably result in unwarranted invasions of privacy.”
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Every Australian has a right to freedom of speech and freedom of protest. It is the tactic of authoritarian regimes the world over to have armed police officers visit a person’s home to attempt to dissuade them from exercising their legitimate right to freedom of speech and freedom of protest.
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“It is absolutely vital that this Commission is not given an unrestrained roving commission to enforce vague notions of integrity” said Mr Cope
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It is to be hoped that the Inquiry in reporting on the police discipline term of reference will recommend a top to bottom thorough and fundamental change to a seriously flawed Queensland Police discipline system”, Mr O’Gorman said.
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Mr O’Gorman posed the question does this mean that no practising Catholic can ever be a CEO of Essendon or any other football codes or clubs who have approved or have been silent on the circumstances of Mr Thorburn’s departure from Essendon
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“To change the double jeopardy law to get the State Government out of a political problem of its own making must be fought robustly and vigorously”, Mr OGorman said.
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