Excellent! OZschwitz sedition laws to be abolished

THE Howard government's controversial ban on sedition will be scrapped and replaced with legislation that bolsters the protection of free speech under a series of changes to the nation's terrorism laws.

Yesterday the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, flagged plans to increase oversight of the national security apparatus and promised to accept the bulk of the recommendations from the Clarke inquiry, a 2006 Australian Law Reform Commission report on sedition and a parliamentary committee report on intelligence and security. The new counter-terrorism laws - to be drafted in the first half of next year - will cover attacks that cause psychological as well as physical harm and will remove the term "sedition" to focus on crimes that urge violence.

Mr McClelland said the changes would provide a more "balanced" approach to national security.

The revamp of the national security apparatus follow the release yesterday of the Clarke inquiry report into the handling by various government agencies of the decision to charge and release Mohamed Haneef over his alleged involvement in the failed terrorist attacks in Britain. It found that the investigation lacked any forum for discussing the evidence and that ASIO's assessment that Dr Haneef was not a security threat was repeatedly ignored or overlooked.

LNK

Excellent! OZschwitz sedition laws to be abolished

Excellent! OZschwitz sedition laws to be abolished

Anarcho-Capitalist Non-Miscellaneous

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