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Australian Government Scrambles to Authorize Mass Surveillance

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Re: Australian Government Scrambles to Authorize Mass Surveillance

#31

Post by dil8 »

girvo wrote: post #17
andrewstuart wrote: post #7

Prime Minister Abbott needs to whip up hysteria and panic to try to distract people from his government's incredibly poor performance and disastrous budget. A nice solid war along with deep fear mongering should regain control of the media message. I simply don't believe we are under threat of attack from knife wielding beheading terrorists. The poor kid who died the other day was probably just mentally ill but its t…

The funniest part is seeing the headlines: "TERRORIST SHOOTING" No, the "terrorist" was shot, he didn't shoot anyone. I'm more and more disgusted with my country lately.

You and me both... Sad state of affairs with ridiculous government propaganda, and major media outlets playing along.

Re: Australian Government Scrambles to Authorize Mass Surveillance

#32

Post by justin_l »

zmmmmm wrote: post #11

I am not normally one to put on a tin foil hat, but all the events of the last week seem so orchestrated that it is hard not to be cynical. Security agencies facing the sunsetting of powers granted after 9/11 "suddenly" discover all these threats the very same week that laws are due to be voted on. There seems to be almost no evidence against individuals raided, only one arrest and that on the basis of some intercept…

> I think there ought to be a moratorium on passing any new laws until there is not any current terrorism scare, it is exactly not the time to be making rash judgements about what laws we need.

Agreed. I think it's hard to orchestrate two police officers getting stabbed (one in the head), but I disagree with the knee-jerk erosion of freedoms, as well as Australia's entry into the Middle East.

The Western world put their foot down when Obama tried to enter Syria several months ago and it gave me a glimmer of hope for the future. The events of the last week have done nothing but disappoint. Why are we all so quick to forget being lied to about Iraq?

What is the most effective forum for citizens to express their concern?

Re: Australian Government Scrambles to Authorize Mass Surveillance

#33

Post by thomasfromcdnjs »

The "Stop The Spies" campaign will be launching prematurely in light of this news.

Here is the website design we were trying to achieve -> https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ByT3WMbCYAEsFcA.jpg:large

Expect it to be launched today or tomorrow.

When the campaign website launches, we need to generate numbers for the press, so make sure you take all the action available on the site.

In the mean time follow our lonely social media accounts to stay up to date with the campaign

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stopthespies

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-The-Spies/35499951465040...

-----

The government nearly passed the first bill in one day, this caught us by utter surprise. And the legislation proposed sets no upper limit on the number of devices in a network that they can monitor, meaning without oversight, they could potentially monitor every device in Australia with a single warrant.

The bill containing the mandatory data retention proposals will be hitting the senate next week and we imagine that it might get very little opposition like this first bill.

The only opposition to the bill is from the Greens and one LDP member so there is but a flicker of hope. But I imagine if we can at least delay these proposals, a more lively debate may spring up and pressure may be placed on legislators to reconsider their positions.

It is in the best interest of journalist to write about these bills at the moment because it highly affects them.

Personal thanks to Sen. Ludlam for delaying the bill yesterday!

Re: Australian Government Scrambles to Authorize Mass Surveillance

#34

Post by grecy »

andrewstuart wrote: post #7

Prime Minister Abbott needs to whip up hysteria and panic to try to distract people from his government's incredibly poor performance and disastrous budget. A nice solid war along with deep fear mongering should regain control of the media message. I simply don't believe we are under threat of attack from knife wielding beheading terrorists. The poor kid who died the other day was probably just mentally ill but its t…

I've been out of Australia for many years now, though I always figured I would go home to raise a family one day.

Everyone I talk to now says it's getting destroyed by Abbott and his policies. Less sending on Health, Education. Privatized university loans (with interest - even for those with existing HECS debt), very overreaching surveillance.

I hate to say it, but it might not be worth going back after Abbott has had his way...

Re: Australian Government Scrambles to Authorize Mass Surveillance

#35

Post by cromulent »

grecy wrote: post #34
andrewstuart wrote: post #7

Prime Minister Abbott needs to whip up hysteria and panic to try to distract people from his government's incredibly poor performance and disastrous budget. A nice solid war along with deep fear mongering should regain control of the media message. I simply don't believe we are under threat of attack from knife wielding beheading terrorists. The poor kid who died the other day was probably just mentally ill but its t…

I've been out of Australia for many years now, though I always figured I would go home to raise a family one day. Everyone I talk to now says it's getting destroyed by Abbott and his policies. Less sending on Health, Education. Privatized university loans (with interest - even for those with existing HECS debt), very overreaching surveillance. I hate to say it, but it might not be worth going back after Abbott has ha…

I love Australia, and I wish it would get the governments and leadership it deserves. Haven't lived there for 6 years, and I'm not sure if I will move back.

Re: Australian Government Scrambles to Authorize Mass Surveillance

#36

Post by stephen_g »

NamTaf wrote: post #23

For the record, the recent 'terrorist threats' involved an apparent plan to kidnap random citizens off the street and behead them on camera, then send the footage to ISIS for subsequent release. The raid to stop said threats involved ~800 police officers across multiple states. Its result? Two people charged, with only one having anything to do with terrorism. Just about every ounce of effort was put in to drumming i…

I think it's actually been pretty shameful how they've been milking everything they can for all it's worth - first the MH370 disaster, where for some reason it was Abbot on camera every night making announcements every time they found a tiny piece of debris off WA (probably none of which was related to the incident at all in hindsight), and then their going on and on about the Russia-Ukraine conflict, despite the fact we have absolutely nothing to do with it...

Now, we have this 'huge terror threat', milking the IS conflict in Syria and Iraq.

Re: Australian Government Scrambles to Authorize Mass Surveillance

#37

Post by Andrenid »

andrewstuart wrote: post #7

Prime Minister Abbott needs to whip up hysteria and panic to try to distract people from his government's incredibly poor performance and disastrous budget. A nice solid war along with deep fear mongering should regain control of the media message. I simply don't believe we are under threat of attack from knife wielding beheading terrorists. The poor kid who died the other day was probably just mentally ill but its t…

The whole thing makes me feel physically nauseous. What the fuck is going on. I suddenly feel really really upset for my daughter growing up in this country, and will quite probably look to leaving if post-Abbott doesn't start reversing all this crap.

Re: Australian Government Scrambles to Authorize Mass Surveillance

#38

Post by damian2000 »

grecy wrote: post #34
andrewstuart wrote: post #7

Prime Minister Abbott needs to whip up hysteria and panic to try to distract people from his government's incredibly poor performance and disastrous budget. A nice solid war along with deep fear mongering should regain control of the media message. I simply don't believe we are under threat of attack from knife wielding beheading terrorists. The poor kid who died the other day was probably just mentally ill but its t…

I've been out of Australia for many years now, though I always figured I would go home to raise a family one day. Everyone I talk to now says it's getting destroyed by Abbott and his policies. Less sending on Health, Education. Privatized university loans (with interest - even for those with existing HECS debt), very overreaching surveillance. I hate to say it, but it might not be worth going back after Abbott has ha…

This is a load of balls, Australia is still a great place to live compared with the majority of countries in the world.

Re: Australian Government Scrambles to Authorize Mass Surveillance

#39

Post by the_rosentotter »

retrogradeorbit wrote: post #20

"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country." -- Hermann Göring That'll be next. Any one who stands in opposition to these bills will be "exposing the country to danger".

"You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war." -- William Randolph Hearst

Every war in recent history has been preceded by massive, concerted media propaganda. World War I was extreme in this regard. The monopoly situation on mass media has not improved since then.

Re: Australian Government Scrambles to Authorize Mass Surveillance

#40

Post by aragot »

grecy wrote: post #34
andrewstuart wrote: post #7

Prime Minister Abbott needs to whip up hysteria and panic to try to distract people from his government's incredibly poor performance and disastrous budget. A nice solid war along with deep fear mongering should regain control of the media message. I simply don't believe we are under threat of attack from knife wielding beheading terrorists. The poor kid who died the other day was probably just mentally ill but its t…

I've been out of Australia for many years now, though I always figured I would go home to raise a family one day. Everyone I talk to now says it's getting destroyed by Abbott and his policies. Less sending on Health, Education. Privatized university loans (with interest - even for those with existing HECS debt), very overreaching surveillance. I hate to say it, but it might not be worth going back after Abbott has ha…

Talking about university loans, let's take a minute to share and contemplate the awesome system I've discovered in Australia: You can borrow money from the govt for your studies. The interest rate is only equal to the Consumer Price Index. You repay your debt through taxes after you start working, and your taxes are capped to something like 45% of your income.

Which means, if your studies don't land you a good job, you're not choked on the spot by banks. And it still transfers more responsibility to the student than subsidizing education to make it free.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertiary_education_fees_in_Au...

More countries should copy the same system for education loans.

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