Fascism in Australia

Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment Act: Australia’s fascist legislation

This legislation that was passed in Queensland and now is spreading around Australia ostensibly targets "criminal" bikie gangs but in fact allows the state to declare ANY organisation of three or more people a criminal organisation and put them away in prison without having committed any crime other than having associated in a "criminal association".

This comes to the fore because of the case of New Zealand detainees on Christmas Island and now this headlines from today's NZ Herald:

Decorated soldier Ko Rutene detained in high security Australian prison despite committing no crime

A Kiwi war hero is being held at a high-security prison across the Tasman - despite not committing a crime.

Former Lance Corporal Ngati Kanohi Te Eke Haapu, known as Ko Rutene, had his visa revoked on the grounds he was a member of a motorcycle club.

He has had his visa revoked because he is a member of the Rebels motorcycle club.

Mr Rutene has fallen foul of Australia's anti-gang laws and was taken to Casuarina prison in Perth last month.

Here is a definition of the Queensland Act from Wikipedia:

Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment Act 2013 is an act of the Parliament of Queensland to "severely punish members of criminal organisations that commit serious offences". The act was passed on 16 October 2013, and went into effect immediately.[1] The relevant Minister is required to review the Act after 3 years.

The Act applies to legal organisations and "any other group of 3 or more persons by whatever name called, whether associated formally or informally and whether the group is legal or illegal." Similarly it defines office bearer of the organisation to allow for informal roles, with the defendant required to prove that they are not an office bearer.

The Act declares a person to be a "vicious lawless associate" if they commit a serious offence "for the purposes of, or in the course of participating in the affairs of, the relevant association". It is incumbent on the defendant to prove that the association is "an association whose members do not have as their purpose" the serious offences listed in the Act.

If a person is declared to be a "vicious lawless associate", this Act mandates a further 15 years imprisonment on top of the sentence for the crime for members of the organisation, and 25 years imprisonment for office bearers of the organisation

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicious_Lawless_Association_Disestablishment_Act_2013

Here, first of all, is some discussion by conventional media including an article from the Guardian

Bikie gangs to be declared criminal organisations in South Australia under proposed laws

Proposed South Australian anti-bikie laws similar to anti-terrorism measures, attorney-general says

Proposed laws to declare 27 motorcycle gangs in South Australia as criminal organisations are similar to Commonwealth measures targeting terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah, the state's Attorney-General says.

- 4 June, 2015

Anti-bikie laws are getting public used to loss of civil liberties, academic warns

There is no proof that ‘severe and disproportionate’ anti-association laws help to eradicate organised crime, University of Queensland researcher says

The spread of anti-terrorism-style laws through Australia’s criminal justice system is conditioning the public to accept “severe and disproportionate” losses of civil liberties, a legal academic has warned.

South Australia has drafted laws that would permanently tag members of motorcycle gangs as “criminal organisation participants”, leaving them facing the lifetime risk of jail for associating with others even if they had quit a gang.

The measures were introduced despite the South Australian government’s blueprint being under review in Queensland, where its Labor counterpart has a taskforce to recommend ways to repeal or replace gang laws once touted as the world’s toughest.

University of Queensland’s Rebecca Ananian-Welsh said it was the latest example of “extreme measures” adopted from terrorism legislation under the same rhetoric but without proof that they helped eradicate organised crime.

Ananian-Welsh and the University of NSW professor George Williams in a recent study (pdf) traced the “creep” of federal anti-terrorism laws, including the use of control orders, secret evidence, crimes of association and a shift in the burden of proof, into state criminal laws.

They argued the Australian experience offered a “cautionary tale” to other countries, with high court judges unable to act on concerns in the absence of “constitutional protections for human rights or due process”.

Ananian-Welsh told Guardian Australia the South Australian bill had gone a step further than the Queensland laws by permanently eroding the rights of anyone who even tried to join a bikie gang.

It is hard to imagine how this man, a recreational biker and Vietnam vet could be construed as an Enemy of the State.

Please listen to what he has to say.

Vietnam Vet R. Saunders Advice & warning to Qld Government

More discussion of the issue

Queensland's VLAD laws expanding interstate?

This is a statement by activist and radio host Peter Igan challenging the Attorney General of Queensland to show just cause for the VLAD legislation.

Jarrod Bleijie - Public Demand to Show Cause

Coincidentally, as if to demonstrate what Australia has become Peter Igan was attacked by a pro-Israeli activist. I bet this won't make the conventional Australian media!

Australian Political Activist Attacked for Speaking Out Against Israel

Political activist Max Igan was physically assaulted in Australia after delivering a pro-Palestinian speech in public, the victim told Radio Sputnik in an exclusive interview.