welcome to the out-of-control decade, page-5

Seems to be under the radar for people here.




Australia: Anger over broadened police powers to search people

Jessica Craven
Geelong Advertiser
Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:27 EST

A Geelong lawyer has slammed new laws that allow police to search people in designated public areas as an "outrageous breach of human rights".

The laws, which came into effect on Wednesday, give police sweeping powers to search people at random, including strip searches.

James Farrell, who works for pro-bono legal organisation PILCH, said evidence showed such laws did nothing to prevent crime.

"Rather than pretending to be tough on crime by introducing ineffective measures, government should base policies on sound evidence that will improve community safety and outcomes for individuals," he said.

Under the legislation:

POLICE can search anybody in a "designated area" even if officers do not have any reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing and can proceed to a strip search if the circumstances warrant it.

ANY area where there has been an incident of violence involving a weapon in the past year can be deemed a designated area; as can any place where police suspect there may be trouble; or any major event precinct.

A NEW offence of disorderly conduct has been created, with $234 on-the-spot fines.

Mr Farrell said the legislation included provisions to strip search minors in "mystery" designated areas.

"There was a bit of a misconception around that these places were going to be advertised and seven days notice given, but there is provision in the legislation that they do not have to be advertised," he said. "So you can be walking down the street in front of your house and be asked to undergo a search."

Police and Emergency Services Minister Bob Cameron said laws enabling searches for weapons had been strengthened to help protect police.

"All these new laws provide the police with pre-emptive tools designed to diffuse situations and deter unacceptable behaviour so Victorians can safely enjoy public places in peace," he said.

"These critical new reforms will boost Victoria Police's ability to deal with drunkenness, disorder in public places and violence."

Mr Farrell said the legislation included hefty new fines for the "vague" new offence of disorderly conduct and for existing offences of drunk and disorderly and drunk.

"We can now be slogged $234 for walking home from the pub," he said.

"The new offence of disorderly conduct is not defined and relies upon the subjective and arbitrary judgment of individual police officers."


http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2009/12/18/132511_news.html




Internet censorship plan gets the green light

Asher Moses
The Sydney Morning Herald
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:03 EST

The Federal Government has announced it will proceed with controversial plans to censor the internet after Government-commissioned trials found filtering a blacklist of banned sites was accurate and would not slow down the internet.

But critics, including the online users' lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia and the Greens communications spokesman Scott Ludlam, said the trial results were not surprising and the policy was still fundamentally flawed.

The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, said today he would introduce legislation just before next year's elections to force ISPs to block a blacklist of "refused classification" (RC) websites for all Australian internet users.

Continues at
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/internet-censorship-plan-gets-the-green-light-20091215-ktzc.html




Australia: Point-to-point cameras will catch speedsters

Anna Caldwell and Greg Stolz
The Courier-Mail
Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00 EST

Drivers travelling Queensland's highways face speeding fines if they make their journey faster than expected, thanks to new point-to-point speed cameras.

Two cameras placed any distance apart will have the effect of "one speed camera every 100 metres," Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said yesterday.

The cameras are part of the State Government's new arsenal to combat the road toll, which includes more unmarked vehicles, speed-measuring red light cameras and alcohol ignition interlock devices.

Mr Stewart said the point-to-point cameras could be set up "as far as you like apart".

He said in theory there was nothing to stop the cameras monitoring drivers travelling long distances on highways.

He said the cameras could be effective in tunnels, school zones, or any distance with a relatively steady speed limit.

Police Minister Neil Roberts said the devices catch drivers when they deliberately slow down for cameras, only to speed up again after they passed them.

Premier Anna Bligh defended the decision to introduce the secret speed cameras and denied it was a revenue-raiser.


http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26481229-952,00.html