From ‘Global Research’, by Binoy Kampmark
In a sensationalistic way, this article has been promoted by David Icke, as
“The Gathering Orwellian Nightmare, Come On People, How long are you going to stand for it? ”
I take it “gathering” means evolving, or forthcoming, as in ‘gathering storm, anyway “nightmare” it portents to be!
There are too many pointers and insufficient justification to conclude otherwise.
The excuses offered by Tony Abbott to rapidly drive Australia into a panic about terrorism are minor and futile. It is not difficult to conclude that there is undue influence from above, which means outside influence, which means democratic principles are being usurped!
It is therefore appropriate to publish this article with the intention of making Australians aware of the possibility, if not probability, of being taken for a “ride”. A ride which is not in their interests.
Q: When is a lie not a lie? A: When it’s an excuse. – Charlie Brooker, Dawn of the Dumb (2007), 66.
March 19 should be scratched down in the diary of police state antics, if only because it was one when Australia’s non-service providing politicians decided, fairly broadly, that data retention would be a fine thing indeed. Telecommunication companies will be required by law to keep encrypted information on email, phone calls and text messages to enable access by concerned authorities for up to two years.
In the words of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, speaking during Question Time, “The Australian Federal Police advised me that 90 per cent of counter-terrorism investigations involve the use of metadata, as do some 90 per cent of child abuse investigations.” A touch problematic for the PM, given that he doesn’t actually know the meaning of the term.
Given the fact that much of such data is already accessible to law enforcement authorities – the protections in Australia continue to prove patchy in terms of making the authorities work for their keep – it is hard to see what the fuss was all about to begin with. As it stands, anywhere upwards of 80 organisations can request permission to access records of internet users or those of a mobile phone user without warrant (The Age, Mar 19). But the assumption, as with any politics of fear, is that nerves give way, and reasoning goes into an ill-fated sleep.
The bill has been sold as an act of wise benevolence and protection. Agencies dealing with crime will be privileged in their efforts to access data, weeding out those with lesser priorities. Critics such as Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm make the very sensible point that the government’s snooping mania suggests that it sees potential criminals everywhere, the citizen as contingent law breaker. When the bill comes before the senate, he promises to make, along with his minor party colleagues, amendments. “I’ll try to make it less bad, but even if my amendments succeed… it will still be a bad law.”[1]
When one sees criminals everywhere, the authorities will be encouraged to prosecute. “The Australian Federal police have even said,” argue Bernard Keane and Leanne O’Donnell in Crikey (Feb 6), “it will be used to investigate people who download movies.”[2] So much for the anti-terrorist sting, which looks distinctly absent in the legislation.
Please refer to the source article here.
For “reasons of national security”, BS of course, the following is available only if you
