“Australia is now the only Western democracy without some kind of national Human Rights Act or bill of rights.” – Australian Human Rights Commision.
Australia is the only major western democracy to not have a bill of rights. And as seen during the COVID plandemmic, Australia is the most totalitarian and aggressive of the police states in the western world. Victoria in particular, under Dan Andrews, actively assaulted and arrested many people for expressing their objections to the handling of the COVID-19 forced lockdowns. Including arresting a pregnant woman in her own home.
The U.S. bill of rights contains these amendments to the U.S. constitution which should likewise be implemented into the Australian constitution with modernity in mind.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” – First Amendment
The right to freedom of speech and of the people to peacefully assemble was violated in Australia during the Covid-19 pandemic and the rights themselves we do not fully have regardless. Freedom of speech in this country is “implied” in some circumstance and is not a concrete right. This means that in the case of a so called crisis there is very little in the way of protecting your freedoms.
The right to peacefully assembled is also precarious. As I know from experience organizing protests, that they require the consent of your local police, including obtaining and submitting paperwork, with the procedure of your protest having to be negotiated.
“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” – Second Amendment
This we clearly lack in Australia. Our gun rights are heavily controlled through licensing and other checks and balances. The point of having uninfringed rights to bears arms is to be a deterrence to tyrants and tyrannical governments that act in the best interests of themselves and exploit the people for that aim. And the key word here is deterrence.
Likewise, I would heavily recommend Castle law doctrine and stand your ground laws to be united with this in order to deter criminal activity outside the government. Because “every Englishmen’s home is his castle”, a powerful and surreal statement, which promotes the safety and liberty of the people.
“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” – Eighth Amendment
This is highly important to implement into the Australian Constitution in order to protect the people from being punished unjustly for crimes that the state wishes to make an example of. The people must have their rights protected, as no one knows what future laws the government will impose, and no one can be certain that those laws have the peoples best interests in mind.
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” – Tenth Amendment
The state does not need to be bigger, it needs to be smaller. We must have active measures in place, voted for by the people, to combat excessive centralization in government.
The only state/territory to vote yes to “the voice” bureaucracy was the ACT. The territory where centralized government is seated.
The larger a government gets, the more alien it becomes from the needs of the people. A smaller government is a safer and more free government. One that represents the people as closely as possible.
I’ll leave you with this. This comes from the Australian Human Rights Commission website.
“The Australian Constitution does not explicitly protect freedom of expression. However, the High Court has held that an implied freedom of political communication exists as an indispensable part of the system of representative and responsible government created by the Constitution. It operates as a freedom from government restraint, rather than a right conferred directly on individuals.” – Australian Human Rights Commission.
The only commendable section in the above quote is “it operates as a freedom from government restraint…” everything else does not whatsoever guarantee your freedom of speech. This, however, is now coming into question in regards to the proposed Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation bill, which will see the Australian Communications and Media Authority decide on behalf of the government what information constitutes truth and what constitutes misinformation or disinformation.
An Australian Bill of Rights must be implemented. We just had a referendum on “the voice” which was an agenda to add an apartheid style racial bureaucracy to the constitution, which the people voted against by 60%. This shows, unlike what typical politicians tend to believe, that the people are intelligent and ready to be involved in the shaping of their government. The next referendum must be about a bill of rights and must be designed by the people.
This should be the goal of all Australians.
Alex James.