Rather than waste my time responding to your empty words here's an extract of a note I posted to Towie.
Your "I have nothing to fear" argument is fine for the short term,assuming that the proposed measures have some real basis in efficacy which as I said previously has not been established. Indeed, Howard's arrogance in refusing to bother to even attempt to validate what he proposes is breathtaking.
You need however, to be thinking about a larger issue that of democracy. Democracy is a fragile thing. Ours has evolved over a period of hundreds of years as bit by bit all the instruments of that democracy, voting rights for all, establishment of the judicial process, rule of law etc, etc come into being. Recent evidence shows quite clearly that democracy is not something which can be imposed despite the best attempts of the "coalition" to do just this in Iraq. Institutions need to be built, the public needs to develop the appropriate attitudes and so on. All this takes a long time. Similarly, democracy can be destroyed. By chipping slowly away at our freedoms one by one, governments assume to themselves more and more power until they become a totalitarian state.
You may say, "Well, I trust John Howard to do the right thing. He has all our interests at heart. I'm sure he knows what's best."
Well and good.
Imagine then that Howard enacts these laws without any chance of review with a sunset clause or judicial oversight and in the fullness of time, the unthinkable happens and he retires. Horror of horrors, the Greens are elected into government!!!! The greens reckon "Well no one has been able to define terrorism so we think that old fogies like Towie represent a menace to society. Let's bring 'em in." Bingo, Towie disappears and not even his beloved grand kids Know where he is......
An extreme example perhaps, but it points to the need to be so very wary of pollies who want to tamper with our hard won freedoms.
