{"id":52248,"date":"2022-06-27T16:42:51","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T16:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wagingnonviolence.org\/rs\/?p=52248"},"modified":"2022-07-12T15:57:34","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T15:57:34","slug":"how-australian-lawmakers-have-used-9-11-threaten-civil-liberties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wagingnonviolence.org\/rs\/2022\/06\/how-australian-lawmakers-have-used-9-11-threaten-civil-liberties\/","title":{"rendered":"How Australian lawmakers have used 9\/11 to threaten civil liberties"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For a long time, Australia was known as a country with a high level of social and political freedom. Even though the history of the land lies in colonialism \u2014<\/a> with the arrival of convicts and settlers from Britain in 1788 who took over the land from Indigenous peoples \u2014 Australia was noted for some progressive social developments in the 1800s, including introducing the secret ballot, votes for women, and the eight-hour workday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This changed after the 9\/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. The Australian government has since passed 92 anti-terror laws, the most of any comparable country, despite the absence of significant terrorist attacks on Australian soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of these laws involve reductions in civil liberties, including freedom of speech. Each of these laws was passed with support from the two main political parties: the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal-National-Party Coalition. For decades, one or the other of these parties has formed the government but, in any case, whichever major party is in opposition also supports the laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politicians justify the laws as necessary for dealing with terrorism<\/a>, or sometimes pedophile rings or organized crime.<\/a> Because of secrecy provisions, it\u2019s very hard to find out how often the laws have been used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n