A major aspect of one of the five bills, which would have amended existing spying laws to enable the government to intercept and read e-mail and SMS and voice mail messages without a warrant, was rejected. A warrant would have remained necessary to eavesdrop on phone calls. While senators on the government benches also voted against the spy measure, it may be reintroduced in the future.

A sixth bill was passed in April and a seventh has yet to be acted on. Passage of the eighth bill, which would greatly strengthen the powers of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the govern- ment’s domestic-spying organization, was delayed for a second time until the next sitting of Parliament, which begins August 19.

Examples of ASIO’s key role in the rulers’ attacks on workers’ rights keep coming to light as people go public with their refusal to accept victimization.  
 
Denial of passport
Zak Mallah, an 18-year-old worker of Lebanese Muslim background from Sydney, applied in May to have his passport renewed so he could travel to Lebanon. Two weeks after his application he was interviewed by ASIO agents, who then recommended to Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer that Mallah’s application be denied on "security" grounds.

A June 7 letter from the government stated that Downer "has formed the opinion that you are likely to engage in conduct that might prejudice the security of Australia or of a foreign country."

Mallah, who is appealing the government’s decision, described the interrogation. "I said that I am not a politician and that I don’t know much about politics," he said. "Then they asked me about religious violence and I said it depends on whether you mean a ‘holy war,’ which is a battle, or killing innocents without warning." Mallah said he told the ASIO agents that he regarded Osama bin Laden as a "Muslim brother" but didn’t support acts such as the September 11 attacks in the United States.

Mallah said he told them it was animosity over U.S. support for Tel Aviv’s repression of Palestinians that was the motivation for those attacks. He explained the agents asked if he would ever engage in political or religious violence. He told them, "No. I have never even thought of doing that."

The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties has taken up his case. Cameron Murphy, the organization’s president, noted Mallah’s situation was part of a pattern of discrimination against people of Middle Eastern background. "This would not have happened to [Mallah] if his name was Smith or Jones," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Affairs Department admitted in late June that four passports have been canceled or refused on security grounds in the past 12 months.  
 
‘Shining Path’
Another example of arbitrary actions by the government came to light in early March. James Milne, a Melbourne pub owner and music entrepreneur, learned in early January that the reason checks from his music business, called Shining Path, had begun to bounce was that his accounts had been frozen by his bank on government orders. Milne had neither advance warning nor any formal opportunity to appeal the government’s or bank’s actions.

The Peruvian Shining Path is among those named by the attorney general and foreign minister in December 2001 as "terrorist organizations" whose assets are to be frozen. The freeze on Milne’s accounts was lifted after he complained to the Melbourne Herald Sun, with Downer admitting a case of mistaken identity.

The six bills already passed include many draconian and sweeping provisions. A "terrorist act" is defined to include acts committed with the intention of causing serious harm to an individual or a serious risk to the health and safety of the public. While strikes, protests, and other forms of dissent are nominally exempt, government-concocted frame-ups based on the vague definition of "intent" and supposed "risk to public health and safety" will be easier to engineer.

Other measures include the attorney general having the power to proscribe organizations listed by the United Nations Security Council as "terrorist." Proscription on this basis would not be subject to review by the courts but only a review by Parliament, though the courts would also have their own proscription power. Membership alone in a proscribed organization carries a 15-year prison term. Some "terrorist" offenses will carry different penalties depending on whether they were committed "knowingly" or through "recklessness."

Treason is redefined in the new laws to include support, except humanitarian assistance, for organizations or countries in conflict with the Australian military and carries a life jail term. Failing to report someone who is committing "treason" to the authorities can also mean a life sentence.

"For the first time it will be a specific offence to commit a terrorist act, provide or receive training connected with terrorist acts, possess things or collect or make documents connected with a terrorist act, and to do any other thing in planning or preparing for a terrorist act.... And hefty penalties of up to 25 years’ jail await those who direct, recruit for, train for or with, get funds to or from, or provide support to a terrorist organisation," a June 27 media release by Attorney General Daryl Williams crowed.

"Our ability to deal with terrorist financing will be enhanced with increased penalties for providing assets to those engaged in terrorist activity," it continued.

The ability to freeze assests is now codified into law, with the foreign minister able to list individuals and organizations as "terrorist" and freeze their assets without being subject to review by Parliament.

Doug Cooper is a member of the Maritime Union of Australia.  
 
 
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