Police to gain new powers to shut down protests

The Napthine Government’s controversial Summary Offences and Sentencing Amendment Bill is expected to pass in the Legislative Council this week, having been approved by a margin of one vote in the lower house last Thursday. Australian Huuman Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson expressed concern about “the low bar that is being set to give police the powers to move people on” from protests such as the community picket against the East-West Tunnel project. Even protesters who had not yet broken the law could be arrested, Fitzroy Legal Service solicitor Meghan Fitzgerald said: “As soon as the move-on direction is issued, on a reasonable suspicion that your conduct, including future conduct, is likely to cause a breach of the peace, then people can be arrested.” The bill was developed in response to the business lobby’s complaints about picket lines targeting businesses over workplace safety and environmental and social issues. Last month, thousands of people marched to Parliament House to oppose the bill.

Data leak might cause asylum seeker persecution

In an a serious administrative bungle, “the names, dates of birth, countries of origin, arrival date and location of every asylum seeker in a mainland detention facility [were] accidentally published on the Immigration Department’s website.” So far, ninety asylum seekers have begun legal appeals to overturn their previous rejection—the leaked data may have increased the risk that they would be persecuted upon return to their homelands, making them refugees sur place.

Jury asks judge about self-defence, acquits abused husband

A Supreme Court jury this week acquitted Phillip Bracken of the murder of his partner, accepting his claim that he shot her in self-defence after enduring years of abuse. The prosecution argued that shooting the unarmed woman was a “plainly disproportionate” response to her coming towards him. After days of deliberation, the jury asked Justice Maxwell to clarify the law of self-defence. His Honour explained that the key question was whether the accused had “a belief that what he did was necessary even if he is responding to a harm that is not immediate.” The jury was entitled to take into account the “cumulative effect” of years of emotional and physical violence in deciding the issue.

Methamphetamines driving country crime

An increase in Victoria’s crime rate in 2013 was driven by drug-related offences in rural and regional areas, police say. “Statewide, drug-related crimes rose by 12.3 per cent. Social workers say increasing ice use is fuelling crime against property and causing more mental illness and family breakdowns.” The increase in drug offences detected by police is corroborated by a “major increase” in people receiving drug treatment. Peter Cranage of UnitingCare Ballarat said, “We’re seeing an increase in ice and methamphetamines in all our programs.”

Fencing disputes keep mediators busy

According to the Dispute Resolution Centre of Victoria, a free mediation service provided by the Victorian Government, about one third of the disputes they deal with relate to fences and boundaries. The centre’s director, Gina Ralston, said, “Typically, neighbours may disagree over the condition of the fence, the kind of fence needed to replace it, which way the rails should go, when it should be replaced, who should do the work and the overall cost.” In 2013, a parliamentary committee reviewed the Fencing Act 1968 and recommended sweeping changes. A bill to replace it with a new Fencing Act is currently before parliament.

Conservatives more likely to cross the floor

Until the WA senate election is finalised, the Abbott Government will not know the final makeup of the Senate. Peter Hartcher reports that it is expected to need the support of six or seven crossbenchers to pass any bills opposed by Labor and the Greens. And it’s not just the opposition parties that might create difficulties: “In the 54 years from 1950 to 2004, 245 members and senators crossed the floor to vote against their own party, or 24 per cent of the parliamentarians who served, according to the parliamentary library. … The vast majority of these 245—nine out of ten—were conservatives.”

Plain packaging fight didn’t end in the High Court

In 2012, the High Court ruled that the Gillard Government’s laws mandating plain cigarette packaging were constitutionally valid. However, the tobacco industry has taken the dispute to international arbitration, arguing that restrictions on the sale of cigarettes are in breach of Australia’s free trade agreements. According to Mike Seccombe, these costly dispute-settlement procedures “have become a means by which big corporations, and often the home countries of those big corporations (notably the United States) seek to subvert the national sovereignty of other countries.” He says that as a result, many countries, including Australia, are questioning whether arbitration processes should be included in future trade treaties.

Evil lies in the grapevine effect

In what is believed to be the first Twitter defamation trial in Australia, “[a] NSW school teacher has made legal history after a former student was ordered to pay $105,000 for defaming her on Twitter and Facebook.” In determining the appropriate damages, Judge Elkaim SC of the NSW District Court (the equivalent of Victoria’s County Court) took into account that “when defamatory publications are made on social media it is common knowledge that they spread. … Their evil lies in the grapevine effect that stems from the use of this type of communication.”

“Human rights-compliant” prison

“People are sent to prison as punishment not for punishment,” says a senior manager at Canberra’s “human rights-compliant” prison, the Alexander Maconochie Centre.  Prisoners are housed in cottage-style accommodation, with freedom to move around large shared areas during the day, and with no “lights out” time at night. The prison builds life skills through individual learning plans, and works with released prisoners for a year after their sentence finishes; early indications suggest it is reducing the rate of recidivism.

Reconciliation needs a referendum and a treaty

Professor George Williams says, “Australia stands apart. It is now the only Commonwealth nation that does not have a treaty with its Indigenous peoples.” What’s more, “the Australian Constitution was drafted to deny Aboriginal people their rights and their voice,” and “the Constitution still recognises that people can be discriminated against because of their race. It may be the only Constitution in the world that now permits this.” If we are to have true reconciliation, he argues, we need to amend the Constitution and negotiate a treaty with Australia’s Indigenous peoples.