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The QCCL does not take the view that there is a human right to access alcohol. We note in this regard the discussion of this issue by McMurdo P. and Justice Keane in Aurukun Shire Council and Anor –v- CEO Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing [2010] QCA 37 at paragraphs 43 and 142 to 145. McMurdo P. returned to the issue in the decision of Morton –v- Queensland Police Service [2010] QCA 160.[1]
Read MoreSince the end of the 1800’s there has been a shift from the punishment of children to the treatment of children and a clear acknowledgement that their age should be taken into account. This is because children are morally different from adults as a result of the fact that they do not have the same judgment skills, self-control and ability to know right from wrong. Children take more risks, pay less attention to negative consequences, are impulsive and look at short term outcomes and not a long term perspective. They also suffer more from peer pressure.
Because children are impulsive and do not plan for the future, the concept of deterrence has a particularly limited application to them.
These views of the differences between adults and children have recently been profoundly reinforced by modern neuro-scientific research
Voter Identification Laws Should be Rejected: Last week the Queensland Government introduced a Bill which will require voters to produce identification before voting at state elections. Michael Cope, President of the QCCL, said today, “Voter identification laws will unjustifiably disenfranchise the elderly, the young, the poor and the disadvantaged.”
Read MoreReviewing these activities confirms my view that we are trying to carry out an ambitious task with quite inadequate resources, a task which is well beyond the capacity of a small group of concerned people attempting to cope in their spare time on a voluntary basis with difficult matters often requiring considerable research and expertise…
Read MoreThe current state government shows blithe disregard for the separation of powers and contempt for its critics such as this resilient and wily Council. As a republican former Attorney-General, I am reluctant to offer advice to the present, monarchist Attorney-General Jarrod Bleije; but, out of respect for the current Queen who is after all a constitutional monarch, the Attorney really should approach Buckingham Palace to seek a renaming of the Queen Elizabeth II Supreme and District Courts Building to the Stuart Kings Courts building. This would reflect more accurately his recently legislated power to use executive power to override the Judiciary. Courts can be such a nuisance to cocky governments.
Read MoreA review of the discussion document indicates that the only research that has been undertaken to prepare it is into opinion polls. It is a document designed to pander to some of the worst prejudices in the community
Read MoreBoth industrial organisations and corporations are economic actors pursuing their economic interests in the economic market and the political market.The interests of shareholders and the members of industrial organisations are in this regard indistinguishable from one another. There is no legitimate basis for subjecting one set to a series of burdens and controls which do not apply to others. Or to put it in a positive way, there is no reason why one set of individuals, that is members of industrial organisations, should have more rights than shareholders.
Read MoreThe Council views some human rights and civil liberties as so fundamental that they should never be curtailed. These include habeas corpus and the prohibitions against slavery, torture and secret trials. John Stuart Mill also accepted that free speech was a right not subject to a simple balancing analysis.
Deputy Premier’s attack on the CMC is a worrying portent for the future of the CMC.
Read MoreThis Wednesday night 19 September, the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties will host a professional debate about euthanasia at The Irish Club, Brisbane.
QCCL vice president Terry O’Gorman said three guest speakers will discuss all the issues surrounding voluntary euthanasia, physician assisted suicide, assisted dying, palliative care and pain relief that causes death.
Read MoreMichael Cope, President of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, said today, "The Council condemns the government’s proposal to amend the Civil Partnerships bill to remove the right to a public ceremony and replace it with a form of registration as a hollow sham and an insult to gay and lesbian couples”
Read MoreThe CMC review of police discipline and conduct is merely tinkering at the edge of the problems with Queensland’s police complaints process, the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties said today.
Read MoreDr Alex Wodak, Director of the Alcohol and Drug Service at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, said that it is now clear that 'Medically Supervised Injecting Centres (MSICs) provide great benefit to drug users and communities at relatively little cost'.
Read MoreThe Queensland Council for Civil Liberties has today called on the Commonwealth Government to cancel its school chaplaincy program in the light of today’s report on the program by the Ombudsman which provides evidence supporting claims that it is being carried on in breach of the principle of the separation of the church from the state.
Read MoreThe Council welcomed the comprehensive report by the CMC noting that it recorded that a bad situation had gotten better. The Council supported the recommendations of the CMC but argued that the report did not go far enough.
Read MoreThe starting point of any censorship system in the Council’s submission should be that as we live in a free society adults should be free to determine what they watch
Read MoreThe Queensland Council for Civil Liberties today criticized the CMC's announcement that it would take over responsibility for investigating deaths in custody.
Read MoreWhy do people use drugs? The question should be amplified and rephrased: what makes some young people use drugs that are officially declared dangerous and illegal in contrast to the majority who drink and smoke socially approved substances? The most obvious and natural answer is because they like them. We do not generally look for obscure, psychological or sociological explanations of most drug use in the community. People take alcohol, smoke tobacco, drink tea and coffee because they enjoy the effects of these substances
Read MoreIn the end, whilst we acknowledge that there may be certain efficiency benefits to your proposal we do not consider that those efficiency benefits outweigh the risks that flow from the collection of this permanent piece of private data about a person.
Read MoreThe Civil Liberties Council today described as farcical the CMC’s announcement that it would not conclude its investigation into the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee until sometime next year.
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