Australia: The new police state (Welcome to 1984)

[plazma]

You bastard, I leave you alone for three minutes and you start waving that goddamned marlinspike around yelling about reptiles...

-plaz out-

 

[breakyaself]

Ok, so there are probably a few thousand of us, maybe hundreds of thousands that clinically depressed over the new 'terrorist' laws, IR reforms, and to a lesser extent VSU ( that is just another tactic to place a stop on left wing political activity). What can we do ? Lostpunk you talk about 'needing an option for abortion midterm' but there is one - the GG can sack the current government at any time, although this is nearly impossible, if there was enough revolt against what was happening, then a possibility may exist to utilise this. But the fact you mentioned this is kinda sad in its own way because you are cutting dead at the lines of the red tape when looking for options to a solution, or an alternative to the current government.

In Venezuela just recently a workers revolution has erupted with workers defying their boses, creating their own legitimate unions and refusing to work until pay and conditions are improved. They currently run under a similar system to what we would be changing to. The point is that the workers gained control of what was theirs through people power.

We deserve the changes and the IR refroms, because we refuse to make a stand and do anythign about it. I went to a protest in Sydney against the Forbes conference, which was headed by Steve Forbes who is the owner of Forbes magazine and huge supporter of empowering employers, and it was quite obvious that he was in Australia to give advice on the reforms, yet there was more police than protesters.

The same can be said about turning Australia into a police state. There is no unified voice showing protest against the attack and theft of our civil liberties made in the name of a war that we never wanted, and was not even recognised internationaly as legal.

We complain as we sit on our lazy, full, comfortable arses behind our computer screens and slowly watch our country be warped and manipulated into an authoritarians dream state. Yes sir, no sir! We are far more powerful than what we give ourselves credit for, and instead of attempting to create something more powerful and meaningful, and actually stand up for rights that we worked so long to gain, we sit and sigh and moan and watch them be taken by people we hate.

It repulses me. The state of this country repulses you. Why are you sitting there then and allowing it turn this way ? Talk of running away, killing ourselves, killing others ? Do you not care for the generations that will precede us, your children, and if not, what about yourselves?

Seriously we are fucked. And the more time we spend talking about, the less we are doing about it.

DON'T BE SILENCED! DEFEND CIVIL RIGHTS, MUSLIMS, BRING THE TROOPS HOME- 12 noon NOVEMBER 5 @ BELMORE PARK, SYDNEY, opp. Central station

http://www.stopwarcoalition.org/

http://www.30a.org/

http://au.geocities.com/stop_vsu/

Get involved. Write letters. Stage Protest. Burn things. Promote Anarchy.

 

[En_warp]

In Melbourne:

Sunday 6 November
BRING THE TROOPS HOME: END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ
National Day of Protest. 1pm, State Library, cnr Latrobe & Swanston Sts, CBD. Organised by the Melbourne Stop the War Coalition.

 

[silvia saint]

what's the point in granting the governor general the power to remove the prime minister if the prime minister hand picks the governor general in the first place?

i think it's a bit hard to get out and protest when one spends their week working long hours to pay off one's plasma, and even harder to justify not watching it on the weekend

 

[quiet roar]

Sorry but I dont have a problem with it based on my limited and in all honesty disinterested understanding.

I vote them in and I expect that they will do whatever they have to in order to keep my country safe.

I expect that even if the bastards crashed a plane into the middle of Pitt St that use would all have a whinge about how it should have been prevented.

Seriously guys..........they have to do something, this is not some television movie anjd you can turn it off when you want to.

Lets face it, its gunna happen sometime...........hopefully the governments steps can minimise the risk at least.

The fact is...........there is not enough they can do.

Maybe I have become too cynical and jaded in my old age but I think many of you forget that the above opinion is quite probably still the majority view.

So how do you have a revolt/revolution/uprising/political abortion when the majority of fucking idiots eat up every piece of shit the government serves up.

 

[breakyaself]

to silvia:^^ I know that, thats why I said its nearly impossible. But if it can happen to Whitlam...

I know its very sad that the majority of people think like Mazdan, but there are many many many that dont, but are disenchanted because the majority dont give a fuck, think that thier effort cant sustain anything worthwhile.

I think the more people that speak up against the government, the more compelled others will feel to do the same. Maybe.

 

[quiet roar]

^^ We'd also need an opposition that was different to the government.

 

[muzby]

i used to work as a sales rep.

not a bad job, you got to go out by yourself, to pretty much do what you wanted all day, so long as the job got done...

then one day, our work introduced palm pilots for everyone... these made our jobs a lot easier, but it meant that our bosses could see every move we made...

people were complaining about it, saying that it was too big brother like.. that it was taking away their freedom, that people could see every move they made... all those sorts of grumbles..

till one person spoke up and simply said... "if you are not doing anything wrong, why should it matter??"...








i think the same of the terror laws... yes, they are a little draconian in sense, but lets look at it from the reverse, would you like our society to break down into something resembling what iraq is at the moment??

i know i have no fear of these laws because i'm not doing anything wrong....

 

[silvia saint]

it's the precedent the law sets that worries those opposed.

 

[Mary Poppins]

^ muzby, i totally see your point, but my problem is not with myself in regards to the new laws, but others who still haven't done anything "wrong", but may be considered to have done something wrong when come under (what i feel is the too harsh) scrutiny of the new legislation.

just because i'm not likely to be detained without questioning for 14 days, doesn't mean that other innocent people won't be persecuted, simply for "crimes" such as living in the wrong foreign country, participating in organisations that have never been branded as 'terrorist' threats prior to these laws, or opposing the current military/security attitudes of Australia and its allies

 

[quiet roar]

^^ exactly, MP.

And to put it simply: I do not trust the authorities to not abuse their power.

 

[maxload]

I'm not worried with the present government, I would classs them too gutless to exploit the new laws to their full potential. However we are a country of 20million ( there are cities that dwarf that for fuck sake) it doesn't take too many people to get into parliment.
A strong enough pull and real trouble could be in power. Ask any number of people in Eastern Europe how long 14 day's are before anyone knows where you are. There is a sunset clause of 10 yr but the population can easily increase by 4 million in that time ( shit, every Kiwi with a passport if you like).

 

[plazma]

Actually the sunset clause just calls for the laws to be reviewed, it doesn't even, to my knowledge, require that they be re-ratified or require a re-vote on the legislation, so much as a rubber stamp to ensure its continuation. This alone should strike terror into the hearts of citizens who don't like the idea of living in a police state.

-plaz out-

 

[drEaMtiMe*@#]

i agree breakyaself. it's the people who essentially hold the power, not the government.

nicely voiced.

 

[lostpunk5545]

Maxload I seriously think you underestimate this government. Howard has lied through his teeth and done whatever he felt like the whole time he has been in power. While he is gutless in a certain sense (morally), he has shown that when it comes to doing what he wants he has guts.

Breaka - While I'm a firm believer in non-violent protesting I think the track record shows that it has not really worked in any sense since the late 1960's.

For all the millions of people that hit the streets in regards to the Iraq war, Howard just laughed and did what he wanted anyway. I don't see this changing in regard to any of his other policies.

Well we spit and we cursed
And out bleeding hearts burst
But even 10 millions souls marching in february
Couldn't stop the worst

- Bad Religion, The Emipre Strikes First

The only hope I have, is that like Mr. Holt, Howard's extreme policies are leading the way for a mass change in opinion of the people, and the voting in of a more left-wing government this time.

If this ever happens I doubt the CIA and the Governor General will have the ability to fuck it up this time. There will be too many people who remember what it was like to live under Howard.

 

[villz]

If 1% of the people who raved on about liberalisation of society and left wing politics were serious about what they believed in then we WOULD have a more balanced political landscape.
I'm not talking about going to rallies, attending lectures and printing posters to put on poles.
I'm talking about studying politics, becoming politicians, convincing people of your beliefs enough to get elected and then changing our society in line with those beliefs. I'm talking about studying law, joining the Unions and fighting the government legislation. Or studying journalism, and shaping the way the nation thinks through the media.
Too many people wank on about left-wing ideals in their younger days and then when they grow up and start a family they realise the IR reforms put in place by the government actually help them as small business owners, or they support the change in anti-terror laws to make the world safer for their children, or they realise they now have more in their weekly pay packet because of the GST & other economic reforms. Most of you are even too young to remember what being economic recession is like...

The point I'm trying to make is that if you're still SERIOUS about your beliefs against the way in which this country is run, after all things are considered, said and done, don't post on a drug forum, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

 

[muzby]

If 1% of the people who raved on about liberalisation of society and left wing politics were serious about what they believed in then we WOULD have a more balanced political landscape.
I'm not talking about going to rallies, attending lectures and printing posters to put on poles.
I'm talking about studying politics, becoming politicians, convincing people of your beliefs enough to get elected and then changing our society in line with those beliefs. I'm talking about studying law, joining the Unions and fighting the government legislation. Or studying journalism, and shaping the way the nation thinks through the media.
Too many people wank on about left-wing ideals in their younger days and then when they grow up and start a family they realise the IR reforms put in place by the government actually help them as small business owners, or they support the change in anti-terror laws to make the world safer for their children, or they realise they now have more in their weekly pay packet because of the GST & other economic reforms. Most of you are even too young to remember what being economic recession is like...

The point I'm trying to make is that if you're still SERIOUS about your beliefs against the way in which this country is run, after all things are considered, said and done, don't post drivel on a drug forum, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

very.
well.
put.





if i ever meet you, remind me to buy you a beer. :D

 

[drEaMtiMe*@#]

yeah and that's because people are now more apathetic then they ever were, due to the cumulation of time that they've spent living in a fucked up system of governance.

still, it's better to do something than nothing, no?

although i do see your point, and was actually thinking the same thing in regards to all the anti- iraq war protests that have gone on around the world, and still nothing.

(that was to what lostpunk said, before he edited )

 

[katmeow]

I think its pretty fucked as well that Howard wont give any information out on the threat. As australians/people living in australia, we pay our tax, support the country and in return we expect support back from the government. I think we have a right to know if a bomb is going to go off somewhere.

Ah, I see you are under the mistaken understanding that it is the responsibility of a government to serve its citizens

 

[m4dd0g]

If 1% of the people who raved on about liberalisation of society and left wing politics were serious about what they believed in then we WOULD have a more balanced political landscape.
I'm not talking about going to rallies, attending lectures and printing posters to put on poles.
I'm talking about studying politics, becoming politicians, convincing people of your beliefs enough to get elected and then changing our society in line with those beliefs. I'm talking about studying law, joining the Unions and fighting the government legislation. Or studying journalism, and shaping the way the nation thinks through the media.

Ive never changed my opinions through politics or media.
They've changed gradually through interaction with the people who surround me.

Polititians are motivated by the desire to capture the countries beliefs, they dont set them .. they are slaves more than we are.

Successful journalist are motivated by drama not content (cf. my rant yesterday).

"if you are not doing anything wrong, why should it matter??"...

Because we need the law to evolve with society and not halt its progression.
It didnt use to be legal for gay sex, females to vote, etc...

Society changes, then its laws reflect it .. but if the law is so enforceable it prevents gradual change you end up with a backlash (cf. prohabition)