Category: Civil Liberties

War on Drugs: Another way is possible

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On Friday September 4, the government announced plans to ban synthetic drugs and authorised Border Force to seize chemicals with a 'psycho-active' effect and no 'legitimate' use[1]. This plan seems to be a carbon copy of a similar ban in the UK that has already been criticised for its potentially harmful effects on medical research into areas such as Parkinson's disease and anti-smoking solutions[2]. Such a ban could also stymie research into safer alternatives to more harmful substances.  This wrong headed approach is typical of the crazy, ever escalating "war on drugs", which has long been shown to be a complete failure.  A new approach needs to be taken to reduce the harm caused by drugs, and the associated problems caused by prohibition.

"It seems the only way this government deals with any issue is to make more and more draconian laws.  They are not only utterly bereft of imagination or nuance on any issue, but they only know how to appeal to base instincts and simplistic non-solutions that look tough, but achieve little," said Michelle Allen, Pirate Party candidate for the Canning By-election. "Prohibition only works to create black markets and organised crime as otherwise decent, law abiding people are turned into criminals for preferring to consume different substances to alcohol."

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Coalition attacks public access to legal system

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Yesterday Attorney-General George Brandis announced the Federal Government’s intention to repeal a provision of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 in order to stop what the Coalition describes as “vigilante litigation”[1]. The Pirate Party believes that the Australian legal system should remain available to anyone wishing to challenge the legality of administrative decisions, regardless of who they are or what ideology they represent.

“The notion of ‘vigilante litigation’ is frankly ludicrous,” said Simon Frew, President of the Pirate Party. “The law must be followed by the government and its agencies. When it is not, there must be a mechanism for the public to challenge these decisions through impartial courts — especially in the case of environmental issues that often have a regional, national and global impact. If that right is taken away, genuine vigilante actions might be the only way to challenge government action.”

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Trade in Services Agreement: a threat looming on the horizon

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The Pirate Party renews its calls for greater transparency and participation in treaty negotiation, following the latest leaked draft of the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) that shows the agreement is likely to impose anti-privacy and anti-freedom of speech obligations upon Australia[1]. These provisions would benefit large multinational corporations and governments at the cost of the rights of the citizens, and are being negotiated behind closed doors.

“Democracy is under threat, not from terrorism or rising global tensions, but from secretly negotiated treaties like the Trade in Services Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” said Simon Frew, Deputy President of the Pirate Party. “Provisions too severe to be proposed domestically for fear of being summarily booted from office are being included in treaty negotiations to be swallowed as a bitter pill along with what might otherwise be sensible proposals. TISA is the latest in a long line of secret treaties that have adopted this strategy, and must be opposed as vigorously as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement before it.”

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Caught in the net: Parliament approves mass surveillance of all Australians

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Last night the Federal Parliament voted to give law enforcement and intelligence agencies access to an unprecedented amount of information on all Australians[1]. The Coalition Government and Australian Labor Party gleefully goose-stepped together to pass legislation requiring telecommunications service providers to store enormous amounts of personal data for a minimum of two years under the mandatory data retention scheme.

This has created a mass surveillance regime that will target all Australians at a time when other countries have abandoned this approach, and Australians will pay for this increased surveillance through taxes and additional phone and Internet charges. This is despite overwhelming evidence that mandatory data retention schemes do not work to reduce serious crime and are a substantial assault on privacy.

Pirate Party Deputy President Simon Frew said: “Years of undermining privacy and other civil liberties has reached a climax. Everyone will live under the shadow of mass surveillance. We can no longer take our privacy for granted. It doesn’t matter if you’re a doctor, a lawyer or a journalist — no one can assume that their communications are confidential. This is the most shamelessly authoritarian legislation Australia has seen for a long time.”

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Government declares war on the Internet; we must fight back

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Today is a dark day for Australians and the Internet as the Labor Party caucus approves data retention[1] and the Coalition prepares to introduce misguided new legislation aimed at combatting online copyright infringement[2]. To encourage Australians to join us in fighting back, the Pirate Party is offering pay-what-you-want memberships with no minimum amount at https://pirateparty.org.au/join

Pirate Party Deputy President Simon Frew said: “The Government and the Opposition have effectively declared war on the Internet and war on our privacy. The Labor Party has rolled over on data retention, meaning all Australians will be subjected to mass surveillance until this appalling legislation is repealed.

“At the same time, legislation to give copyright holders an easy mechanism to get websites blocked will mean we are subjected to a censorship regime. The Government has opted for a long and pointless game of whack-a-mole — as soon as a site is blocked it will pop up in several new places and copyright infringement will continue.

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