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We remain of the view that you cannot end racism and other pernicious ideas by censorship and policing. What needs to be done is to focus on addressing the root causes of why some people are attracted to such ideologies in the first place, including social isolation, growing economic insecurity and mistrust in government and the media.
Read MoreThe Collaery, McBride and Boyle cases have to be seen as part of a new trend whereby evidence is admitted into court and is available to one side (the prosecution, in criminal matters) but not to the other even though that evidence may be used against them. The circumstances in which this evidence is selectively admitted is much broader than the previous public interest immunity exception placed on national security. Much leeway is being granted to the Executive to exclude evidence from scrutiny
Read More“The QCCL looks forward to the review recommending changes to the current whistleblower laws that significantly improve the protection for those who breach government secrecy in the public interest” says Mr Cope
Read MoreIt is this nightmare we have come to discuss today in the form of the use of ‘AI’ to make decisions that could impact a person’s access to benefits or services, or could be used to make a judgement about whether or not they are law abiding
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“To deprive the public and the Coroner of the best possible evidence namely the audio and video of SERT body worn cameras is unbelievable”, Mr O’Gorman said.
Read MoreWe commend the Report as it addresses our submission and, in our view, is a significant and positive step towards the proper recognition and protection of Australians’ right to privacy.
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With respect, in our opinion, the current Youth Justice Act is appropriate for the circumstances and Queensland‘s current environment. Knee-jerk responses to bad publicity should never be used as the basis for law reform.
Read MoreGovernment accountability is a key part of our democratic system. Transparency is, in turn, a key part of government accountability. Without public scrutiny, abuses may flourish undetected. Transparency is therefore central to maintaining public confidence in the administration of government.
Read MoreTo allow associations operating outside the closed circumstances of their community to claim exemption from laws furthering equality would be to allow that association to impose their faith on others.
Read MoreRestrictions on electoral expenditure are akin to the rules of debate in a meeting which restricts the length of speeches and provide for rights of reply. In the context of political speech, the restrictions are essential to fairness, in that the arms race between various political players is continuously increasing the cost of elections, which results in an increasing number of people being excluded from the political process. Capping expenditure would also help to create closer financial equality between candidates at elections
Read MoreAstonishingly, when the government announced these laws, it relied upon a review of the trial of this system as justifying their introduction. As this submission will demonstrate, to the contrary, that report justified the criticisms which have been made of this type of law.
Read MoreWhy haven’t the guideline judgment provisions of the Queensland Penalties and Sentencing Act been used by the Premier and the Police Minister to ask the Appeal Court to remedy supposedly soft sentences by Magistrates?
Read More“Fortunately, Mr Sofronoff found it most unlikely that any innocent people have been wrongly convicted as a result of the lab failures. However, the UK Commission has variously estimated that between two to five percent of the British prison population at any given time are victims of miscarriages of justice. We see no reason why that would not be the case here.”
Read More“The fact that people who complain that they are the victims of sexual offences are given lifelong anonymity and under the Attorney-General’s proposal people merely accused of such offences will be named shows how the balance between protecting the rights of the accuser and the accused is being so wrongly and unfairly skewed towards the accuser”, Mr O’Gorman said.
Read MoreWe start from the premise that prisoners including those on probation, parole or other post detention supervised release, do not have the same privacy rights as ordinary citizens, but they are not stripped of their entire right to privacy
Read MoreIn our view in a noisy environment like a modern city, effective communication must involve speakers being able to amplify their voices within clear limits that respect the rights of other users of the space.
Read More“The traditional requirement that before a search can proceed there must be a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed or a weapon found is a bulwark protection of our liberty. Such a requirement is essential to being able to prevent arbitrary searches or searches based on bias. The granting of such powers will inevitably result in unwarranted invasions of privacy.”
Read MoreThe Council maintains its position that the advancement of women’s equality and protecting them from violence cannot come at the expense of fundamental legal principles and arrangements designed to protect the liberty of everyone
Read MoreEvery Australian has a right to freedom of speech and freedom of protest. It is the tactic of authoritarian regimes the world over to have armed police officers visit a person’s home to attempt to dissuade them from exercising their legitimate right to freedom of speech and freedom of protest.
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