Williams' trial balloon, which has received little attention in the big-business media, is part of a package of proposals the government says it will introduce in Parliament if it is reelected in the upcoming November 10 federal election. Other proposed measures that attack workers' rights were widely reported. These include increasing the time a "suspect" can be detained by ASIO without charges from four hours to 48, and permitting ASIO agents to interrogate people not considered "suspects."

The major opposition party, the Australian Labor Party, quickly lent support to the proposed legislative changes. A spokeswoman for leader Kim Beazley said, "On the limited details available, the measures appear appropriate. Some of them could go further."

In Australia, the right to remain silent and the presumption of innocence are part of common law. The constitution does not include a bill of rights and permits both state and federal parliaments to pass specific legislation overriding the common law rights that working people have won over many decades.

For example, commissions that are established by acts of parliament, such as the Independent Commission against Corruption in New South Wales, can include provisions eliminating the right to remain silent for those who testify. These commissions are similar to grand juries in the United States, where--despite both common law and a Bill of Rights "guaranteeing" the right to remain silent--working people who refuse to answer questions are regularly imprisoned for the remainder of the period the grand jury sits, which can sometimes be years.

"As Canberra moves to drag working people deeper and deeper into the imperialist war against the Afghan people, in the name of 'freedom,'" said Communist League candidate Ron Poulsen, "these proposals would dramatically expand the powers of the secret police at home to coerce people into collaborating with them." Poulsen is a wharfie [dockworker] and member of the Maritime Union. He is standing in the November 10 election for the seat of Watson.

"While they are supposedly aimed at the 'terrorist threat,' their real target is workers' organizations, groups that defend immigrant or refugee rights, or anyone who opposes the rulers' course to war," he said. "Now is the time to speak out against these draconian proposals and increase the political price the rulers will have to pay if they enact them," Poulsen said.

Doug Cooper is a member of the Maritime Union of Australia.  
 
 
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