The Labor government’s agreement with independent MP Peter Wellington has put some juice into the campaign for a Queensland Bill of Rights … The campaign hots up … Lobbying underway … Anti-rights academic might flee the state
THE human rights genie has escaped from the bottle in Queensland with a campaign building for a Human Rights Act – along Victorian and ACT lines.
And why shouldn’t there be? What with a unicameral parliament and a history of midget Mussolinis turning the place into a police state, Queensland ideally should be the next cab off the rank for a HRA.
One other side-benefit is that it might see dogmatic, flat-earth, law prof. James Allan from the University of Queensland, flee the jurisdiction.
He has been banging on about the evils of human rights laws and has moved from country to country to escape the tyranny of citizens exercising their rights.
He left Canada and then New Zealand when they got Human Rights Acts, winding-up safely in the human rights free zone of Queensland where he’s bored people senseless with sermons about “unelected, activist judges”.
His bio on the UQ web site includes the following boast:
“He is delighted to have moved to a country without a national bill of rights. He has been actively involved in the efforts trying to stop one from being enacted here in Australia.”
Prof. Allan even supported the appointment of Bluto Carmody as chief justice – which shows how deeply his head is embedded in the sand.
Before the state election the Labor Party did not support or oppose a Queensland HRA. However, it said it was against having a public consultation about the matter.
Since the election, the Labor Party has formed a government with the support of the speaker, Independent MP Peter Wellington, who is enthusiastic about giving Queenslanders a bill of rights.
Letters of Exchange between Wellington and the premier, Anastasia Palaszcuk, make it clear that the government is committed to “seek advice” about a Human Rights Act from the Department of Justice and Attorney General, to be followed by a period of public discussion.
A clutch of 26 academics, policy wonks, legal aid people, civil libertarians, lawyers and youth advocates have put their name to a letter sent to the premier in March, calling on the government to launch a “comprehensive community consultation process”.
Public consultation may be unnecessary, since the work of the Brennan committee’s consultations can be dusted off and re-tuned.
Queensland’s anti-bikie laws are a particular problem, as Brisbane librarian Sally Kuether discovered when she went for a beer at a Brisbane pub with her boyfriend, wearing a jacket of the Life and Death motorcycle club.
She faced up to three years jail for associating with her boyfriend, Philip (Crow) Palmer, and another man at the hotel, because allegedly they were members of an outlawed gang.
Her defence lawyers had the problem of establishing that the Life and Death club had no criminal purpose, but the government wouldn’t reveal why the club had been outlawed.
Police said that raids of two properties at Manly West and Samford Village turned up a number of illicit items, including a snake.
Ultimately, the anti-association charges were dropped and Kuether was fined without conviction for breaching the Liquor Act.
The HRA campaign letter to the premier said:
“The Australian Capital Territory and Victoria have had charters of rights since 2004 and 2006 respectively. Neither jurisdiction has experienced the loss of parliamentary sovereignty, floods of litigation or excessive costs that critics had been concerned about. Instead, a review of the Victorian charter reported that some of the benefits of the charter include improved government accountability, more responsive public services and better practical outcomes for vulnerable citizens including people with disability, people with mental illness and those experiencing homelessness.”
Former Victorian AF, Rob (F***ing) Hulls, who introduced Victoria’s Charter or Rights and Responsibilities, is to speak at the Irish Club on May 13 on the case for a Qld HRA.