Justice for Refugees Easter Protest

Outside Kirribilli House

On behalf of the Greens thanks for invitation to speak today. I acknowledge the Aboriginal traditional owners of this land.

Prime Minister John Howard is a liar. And with the federal election looming you can bet his lying days are not over.

Howard and his Ministers lied when they said refugees on boats heading to Australia threw their children overboard and that the boat people included terrorists;

Howard lied to the government of Nauru about the terms of the Pacific Solution.

And then there is his big whooper - remember the weapons of mass destruction.

Using what may well be the most destructive lie of all time the coalition of the killing - Australia, USA and Britain - invaded Iraq and they have murdered tens of thousands of people.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens have died, many more injured in a war that the Prime Minister tried to scare us into supporting.

After lies you would have to say that John Howard's favourite political tactic is fear.

The deliberate creation and exploitation of fear in pursuit of his political agenda is a hallmark of his government.

Politically motivated fear and anxiety has a double advantage for unscrupulous leaders like Howard. These tactics can scare people at the ballot box and they can intimidate people into supporting draconian legislation.

The fear of the unknown delivered Howard victory in 2001. Howard lied about the Tampa and the refugees who would have most likely drowned at sea if the captain of that now famous ship did not have the humanity that Howard lacks.

The only way Howard was able to win the last election was with his infamous scare tactics. We need to be ready to expose any similar tactics in the lead up to the next federal election.

Howard has also used people's fear of the unknown to justify the curtailment of our liberties.

The introduction of so-called anti-terrorist laws is another example of Howard's lies. At no time has he or any of him Ministers told the Australian public that basic tenets of law that have been treasured and enshrined for hundreds of years have been overturned by these laws - the presumption of innocent until proven guilty, the right to legal representation, that prosecution will be evidenced based, and trial by jury have been shelved under these laws.

And the consequence of these laws is the criminalizing of dissent and extra parliamentary politics.

We are yet to see the impact on our society of these laws. But we can look to Britain in the 1970s for what happens when such laws are introduced. What we saw then was anti- terrorist laws introduced against the Irish used against political activists not against terrorists.

Research on prevention of terrorism legislation in Britain between the mid 1970s and the 1990s found that 86% of people detained wee released without any action being taken against them.

While Labor to some extent have stood up to Howard on the federal stage at a state level Bob Carr has even tried to outdo the conservatives on the so called fight against terrorism. At the end of 2002 the NSW Labor government put through a bill that gives NSW police the power to strip search children between the age of 10 and 18 years without a warrant; search people's homes without a warrant; and the Police Minister has wide powers to declare a state of emergency.

And the Premier has also taken a leaf out the Prime Minister's book when it comes to inciting fear particularly of non-English speaking people. Why else would the Premier talk about 'border controls' and 'ethnic gangs'? Why else does he sound off about law and order at every opportunity? Between 1999 and 2002 the Carr government initiated and passed 77 pieces of law and order legislation. That is about 20 bills a year. Most other states get by with about 7 or 8 new crimes laws per year and are no safer or dangerous for that.

Sadly the Premier of this state and the Prime Minister of this country are working off the same manual when it comes to scare tactics to win elections and pass draconian legislation.

But we still have the right to protest and election day is looming. Let's make sure Howard is defeated at the polls. It is one small thing we can do for the people of Iraq and the thousands of refugees imprisoned and turned away from this country.

On behalf of the Greens thanks for invitation to speak today. I acknowledge the Aboriginal traditional owners of this land.

Prime Minister John Howard is a liar. And with the federal election looming you can bet his lying days are not over.

Howard and his Ministers lied when they said refugees on boats heading to Australia threw their children overboard and that the boat people included terrorists;

Howard lied to the government of Nauru about the terms of the Pacific Solution.

And then there is his big whooper - remember the weapons of mass destruction.

Using what may well be the most destructive lie of all time the coalition of the killing - Australia, USA and Britain - invaded Iraq and they have murdered tens of thousands of people.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens have died, many more injured in a war that the Prime Minister tried to scare us into supporting.

After lies you would have to say that John Howard's favourite political tactic is fear.

The deliberate creation and exploitation of fear in pursuit of his political agenda is a hallmark of his government.

Politically motivated fear and anxiety has a double advantage for unscrupulous leaders like Howard. These tactics can scare people at the ballot box and they can intimidate people into supporting draconian legislation.

The fear of the unknown delivered Howard victory in 2001. Howard lied about the Tampa and the refugees who would have most likely drowned at sea if the captain of that now famous ship did not have the humanity that Howard lacks.

The only way Howard was able to win the last election was with his infamous scare tactics. We need to be ready to expose any similar tactics in the lead up to the next federal election.

Howard has also used people's fear of the unknown to justify the curtailment of our liberties.

The introduction of so-called anti-terrorist laws is another example of Howard's lies. At no time has he or any of him Ministers told the Australian public that basic tenets of law that have been treasured and enshrined for hundreds of years have been overturned by these laws - the presumption of innocent until proven guilty, the right to legal representation, that prosecution will be evidenced based, and trial by jury have been shelved under these laws.

And the consequence of these laws is the criminalizing of dissent and extra parliamentary politics.

We are yet to see the impact on our society of these laws. But we can look to Britain in the 1970s for what happens when such laws are introduced. What we saw then was anti- terrorist laws introduced against the Irish used against political activists not against terrorists.

Research on prevention of terrorism legislation in Britain between the mid 1970s and the 1990s found that 86% of people detained wee released without any action being taken against them.

While Labor to some extent have stood up to Howard on the federal stage at a state level Bob Carr has even tried to outdo the conservatives on the so called fight against terrorism. At the end of 2002 the NSW Labor government put through a bill that gives NSW police the power to strip search children between the age of 10 and 18 years without a warrant; search people's homes without a warrant; and the Police Minister has wide powers to declare a state of emergency.

And the Premier has also taken a leaf out the Prime Minister's book when it comes to inciting fear particularly of non-English speaking people. Why else would the Premier talk about 'border controls' and 'ethnic gangs'? Why else does he sound off about law and order at every opportunity? Between 1999 and 2002 the Carr government initiated and passed 77 pieces of law and order legislation. That is about 20 bills a year. Most other states get by with about 7 or 8 new crimes laws per year and are no safer or dangerous for that.

Sadly the Premier of this state and the Prime Minister of this country are working off the same manual when it comes to scare tactics to win elections and pass draconian legislation.

But we still have the right to protest and election day is looming. Let's make sure Howard is defeated at the polls. It is one small thing we can do for the people of Iraq and the thousands of refugees imprisoned and turned away from this country.