Annual Report 2022 Angus Murray Vice President

Queensland Council for Civil Liberties

Vice President Report, 30 October 2022

At our 2021 Annual General Meeting, I commenced my report by recounting a part of the speech I gave on behalf of the QCCL at a vigil for Julian Assange at ANZAC Square. That passage was:

At the heart of civil liberties is the importance of ensuring that there is a fair interaction between the State and the citizen.

The basic premise of this interaction is trust. Trust that individuals will interact in a collective in a dignified manner and, in turn, trust that the government will only make law to protect the rights of individuals and the peaceful interaction of the collective. This can be summarised as the rule of law and this bargain of trust enables stability and certainty within a society. When this trust is broken, it is damaging to the foundation of society. In a system of representative democracy it is important to ensure that the government is acting only in a manner that is responsible and representative of its electorate. While it would be easy to see the situation with Julian Assange as an issue between him and the United States, it is not. Rather, this situation is shroud with politics and the substance of the information that was leaked by WikiLeaks. We ought to ensure that a focus is appropriately cast broadly. By this I mean that we must ensure that the broader picture of human rights and the trust that is brokered with government is not lost to focusing on a single example of how a government can target an individual. Absent a proper framework for human rights protection, transparency and ensuring governments remain accountable, their bargain of trust is broken.

It seems that the sentiment about the bargain struck with those who represent us in our democracy remains relevant. We were fortunate to hear Bernard Colleary speak at this year’s Derek Fielding Memorial Lecture and I am confident that I was not the only member of the audience that was horrified by the existence and manner of his prosecution. Although his story is harrowing and could be the source of great despair, I am fortified in the knowledge that issues with use of power by the Government and its agencies have been drawn into clearer light by his ordeal. It is a small positive step towards accountability that his charges have been dropped and that he felt comfortable candidly sharing aspects of his ordeal for the first time since those charges were dropped with the QCCL.

It is also interesting to note that the same Attorney General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC, has also recently taken control of three significant areas of law reform. Those being the review of the Privacy Act 1988, the Electronic Surveillance Frame Reform and the National Anti-Corruption Commission. Each of these areas of reform have the potential to make profound changes to the Australian legal system and it is my hope that the report I give to the QCCL at the 2023 Annual General Meeting allows us to reflect on the benefit of those reforms.

We have again made a large number of submissions to various inquiries and processes and the importance of the QCCL’s contribution in that regard has been, and continues to be, noticed. As an example, we made a media release in mid-2021 regarding the sale and privatization of Queensland’s forensic case management system to ‘Bdna’. It appears that this “slipped through to the keeper” for many Queenslanders; however, our watchful eye did not go unnoticed - a screenshot of a post made by the Member of Mirani was sent to me in September 2022 from a Queenslander who was appalled to find out that DNA data had been privatized and appreciative that the QCCL was the only organization that seemed to have picked up on this important point in Queensland’s history.

Unfortunately, the crickets keep chirping; however, the QCCL has continued to make submissions and public statements including:

●     A submission in relation to the Joint Select Committee on National Anti-Corruption Legislation on 14 October 2022 (with particular thanks to Rory Brown for his work on that submission).

●     Various media releases regarding funding of Queensland’s DNA Lab.

●     A submission in relation to the Public Health and Other Legislation (COVID-19 Management) Amendment Bill 2022 on 16 September 2022.

●     A submission to the Queensland Privacy and Right to Information Framework on 5 August 2022.

●     A roundtable discussion with the Department of Home Affairs regarding our submission to the Electronic Surveillance Framework Discussion Paper on 29 June 2022.

●     A submission on the Framework for the Decriminalisation of Sex Work made on 6 June 2022.

●     A welcome to the new Federal Government and its commitment to introducing a Federal Independent Commission Against Corruption and a referendum that fully commits to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and recognition of Australia’s First Nations people on 23 May 2022.

●     A panel discussion on the topic of ‘Artificial Intelligence, Face Recognition Technologies and Law Enforcement: In Search for a Good Governance Framework’ hosted by Bird&Bird and the Australian Society of Computers and Law on 5 May 2022.

●     A submission to the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commissioner on 7 April 2022.

●     Various media release regarding the extension of the COVID-19 emergency and associated powers.

●     A submission to the review of the Anti-Discrimination Act on 1 March 2023.

●     A joint submission with the Australian Privacy Foundation to the Electronic Surveillance Framework Discussion Paper on 8 February 2022.

●     A request to the Department of Home Affairs seeking information regarding the tender for the provision of managed services for identity matching services dated 31 January 2022.

●     A submission to the Social Media (Anti Trolling) Bill consultation on 21 January 2022.

●     A submission to the Evidence and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 (the so call ‘journalist shield laws’) on 17 January 2021.

●     A submission to the Criminal Law (Raising the Age of Criminal Responsibility) Amendment Bill on 29 November 2021.

It has been another year that highlights the importance of vigilant attention to civil liberties and it is clear that another important year will follow with the release of various reports that directly impact civil liberties and trust in Government. I am cautiously approaching the end of this year with optimism that the reform agenda for the coming year will be positive and, with the benefit of an exceptional executive under the diligent stewardship of Michael Cope, there will be bright news for civil liberties in the next Vice President report.

I urge the membership to reach out to their networks and encourage friends, family and colleagues to donate to the QCCL and remain ever vigilant that what happens today can and will impact the generations that follow us.

Angus Murray, Vice President

Queensland Council for Civil Liberties

30 October 2022