Report of VP Angus Murray to AGM 2024
Queensland Council for Civil Liberties
Angus Murray
Vice President Report
20 October 2024
It has been another big year for civil liberties in Queensland and our aim to promote and protect civil liberties remains ever important. In past years, this report has set out the submissions which have been made by the QCCL with brief commentary. This year, we have again made submissions across various law reform processes and a large number of media releases (as below). However, I firstly wish to particularly draw attention to the success that QCCL achieved in consultation with the Department of Main Roads and Transport in relation to private car parking enforcement.
In short, the QCCL was recently invited to roundtables with Main Roads and Transport in relation to their disclosure of personal information about vehicle owners to private entities for the purpose of issuing demands connected to “proposed litigation” under 202 and 203 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2021. This effectively enabled commercial entities to surveil private carparking spaces and issue unregulated demands to road users who were alleged to have breached a purported contract to park in private spaces (for example, parking outside a small retain outlet). This practice was halted in February 2023 due to significant public concern that Queenslanders were not aware of (nor did they consider that they had consented to) Main Roads disclosing their personal information for the purpose of private entities seeking to enforce (in some cases exorbitant) demands. It is little surprise that the private parking industry had a significant interest in this issue.
On behalf of the QCCL, we contended that ss 202 and 203 of the Regulation were not intended to create this industry, that Queenslanders expected that information retained by Main Roads was for the purpose of vehicle registration, that providing personal information to private entities (and the associated data flow) created serious privacy concerns and, at a fundamental level, the formation of a contract with the person parking in a private space and the imposition of demands – akin to contractual penalties – was questionable, if lawful at all. These submissions were ultimately accepted through the consultation process and, as at this AGM, access to the system remains restricted.
While this may seem like a very nuanced and seemingly abstract area, it is an area that affected Queenslanders sufficiently to voice concern with Main Roads and the QCCL was able to advocate a position which delivered a result that protects the legitimate interest of Queensland citizens. I offer this example in this report because it is important that the QCCL’s work is shared and recognised by its members, and that we have the chance to acknowledge that the QCCL has a voice, and it is heard.
As a fuller recount, the following submissions and media releases have been made this year:
· A media release on continued detention of refugees on 16 November 2023;
· A media release on weakening the double jeopardy rule on 30 November 2023;
· A letter to the Brisbane City Council in support of the right to peaceful assemble in relation to the plight of Mr Drew Pavlou dated 30 November 2023 – the outcome of which was determined against Mr Pavlou in Pavlou v Brisbane City Council [2024] QDC 73.
· A letter to the Department of Main Roads and Transport regarding proposed legislation to authorise department officers to use body-worn cameras dated 13 December 2023.
· A submission to the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee on the Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Double Jeopardy Exception and Subsequent Appeals) Amendment Bill 2023 dated 18 December 2023.
· A media release on the delay and deficiency of the Parole Board dated 4 January 2024.
· A submission to the Youth Justice Reform Select Committee in response to the Inquiry into Youth Justice Reform dated 8 January 2024.
· A media release concerning the inappropriate commentary about the judiciary made by the Premier dated 7 February 2024.
· A media release supporting the Right to Disconnect dated 8 February 2024.
· A submission in response to the Commissioner of Police’s consultation on Bringing Greater Police Efficiencies through Modernisation and Collaboration dated 26 February 2024.
· A letter to the Leader of the House made jointly with the NSW Council for Civil Liberties and Liberty Victoria in relation to the Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill 2024.
· A submission in response to the Police and Other Legislation (Police Efficiencies) Amendment Bill 2024 dated 19 April 2024.
· A media release on social media and free speech dated 30 April 2024.
· A media release on the extension of searching powers to shopping centres, licensed premises, sporting and entertainment venues and “high risk retail outlets” dated 1 May 2024.
· A submission to the Department of Finance and Digital Transformation Agency in relation to the Digital ID Rules, Digital ID Accreditation Rules and Accreditation Data Standards dated 17 June 2024.
· A submission to the Queensland Human Rights Act Review dated 21 June 2024.
· A supplementary submission to the Queensland Human Rights Act Review dated 3 July 2024.
· A media release in relation to the Opposition Leader’s promise that “juveniles would “do adult time for adult crime” as a throwback to the Campbell Newman Government’s failed bikie legislation dated 8 July 2024.
· A media release supporting the call for a Royal Commission into police shootings in Queensland dated 11 August 2024.
· A media release condemning the failure of the Federal Government to implement key recommendations of the Review of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) dated 12 September 2024.
· A submission to the Senate Standing Committees on Environment and Communications in response to the Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 dated 30 September 2024.
· A submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee in response to the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 dated 11 October 2024.
· A media release seeking to have the “doxing laws” withdrawn dated 14 October 2024.
· Letters to the Privacy Commissioner and Commissioner of Police in relation to police attendances at a licensed venue and viewing scanned licenses dated 16 October 2024.
I thank Michael Cope for his tireless work in keeping abreast of issues and in keeping the QCCL’s voice active across a wide range of issues. Michael’s dedication to civil liberties is inspiring and worthy of great praise.
In addition to the media releases and submissions made by the QCCL, my time on behalf of the QCCL will be contributed to a research project with the Queensland University of Technology (lead by Prof. Marcus Foth) in seeking to transform smart cities from profit-driven to community-led projects governed by human-centred urban development and design. This project (if funding is accepted) is expected to span three (3) years and will provide a significant resource to respond to measures implemented in the lead up to the 2032 Olympic Games and beyond.
Finally, and in forecast of the year ahead, I am pleased to inform members that I am completing a PhD with Deakin University on the topic of Surveillance Law Reform and Digital Constitutionalism. This has so far enabled me to submit a book chapter in the Oxford University Handbook on Digital Constitutionalism and a journal article entitled “Are they listening: Resisting State Surveillance with the Rule of Law and Principles of Administrative Law” (copies of which can be made available on request).
I credit the QCCL, and particularly the Executive’s friendship, mentoring and support for the drive and motivation I have developed in understanding the history of civil liberties in Queensland and how Australia uniquely lacks an enforceable human rights framework. A core drive for the topic of the PhD came to me during the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security public hearing in 2018 where I submitted that:
“It is incumbent on me, and you; in your capacity as members of this Committee,
members of your electorates and individuals who call this great country home, to ensure
that we are considering the future and the way that actions today may affect that future.
In this context, our security is important; however, we must be constantly vigilant to
ensure that security does not become a catch cry for the dissolution of basic human
rights” (Hansard 2018, p. 54).
The sentiment I expressed to the Parliamentary Joint Committee echoes with me, and I have embarked on this research with the intention that it will assist the QCCL with its submissions in response to the Electronic Surveillance Bill which is likely to be introduced next year following the electronic surveillance framework discussion paper which was published in February 2022. I draw this to the attention to the members because, in my view, it is imperative that civil society has input into the most significant reform of Australia’s surveillance powers in over four (4) decades.
Regrettably, I am an apology to this AGM due to a fractured ankle; however, I have no doubt that the Hon Peter Applegarth’s address will be well-received and I lament missing that presentation.
As I concluded my report last year, I again 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
20 October 2022