New phone-tapping powers in Australia

Six bills are being pushed through Parliament, effectively meaning anyone can have their phone calls, emails, and SMS tapped. Even private conversations with a doctor or lawyer under legal professional privilege can be tapped and used in court, even if the charges aren’t related to the reason for the tap. You only need to be suspected of having some association with a ‘terrorist’. Considering that there’s no requirement to ever inform the people being tapped that they’ve been tapped – I’d say this pretty much means anyone can be tapped for anything.

The article goes onto cover other laws relating to detention and interrogation. It also highlights the government’s disregard of fundamental democratic rights.

A further wave of police-state laws is currently being pushed through the Australian parliament without the Howard government even claiming any new terrorist threat. The measures—six bills so far—are in addition to the detention without trial, sedition and “advocating terrorism” legislation passed by the federal and state parliaments just before Christmas.

Virtually no media coverage has been given to the latest laws, even though they will authorise the government and its security agencies for the first time to intercept the telephone and email communications of completely innocent people. They will also extend the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation’s (ASIO) secret detention and interrogation powers for a decade, effectively making them permanent.

The Telecommunications Interception (Amendment) Act 2006, which was pushed through both houses of parliament last week, permits the federal police and ASIO to covertly monitor or read anyone’s phone calls, emails, SMSs and other “stored communications”. This power extends to so-called “B-Parties”—innocent people who have, even if unwittingly, communicated with someone suspected of a crime or of being a threat to “national security”.

Posted by amraken