US-style "anti-terrorism" comes to Australia

[Peter Boyle <peterb@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Bush Administration-style "anti-terrorism' has come to
Australia!

"They woke me up and they put a gun to me and put me in
handcuffs," he said. "All my children were crying."

His elderly mother-in-law was so shaken he feared she would
have a heart attack.

The other man whose house was raided, David Suparta, said he
was sad and upset. The family feared retribution from the
public.

The Suparta family, who have been Australian citizens for
six years, said they had been treated like criminals even
though they had not done anything wrong.

"I am still totally shocked," 17-year-old daughter Yulyani
said.

"If it can happen to Australian citizens like us it can
happen to anybody."

These are brief excerpts from one newspaper's coverage of
armed raids against Muslim families carried around the
country in the last few days. More than 80 Muslims (mostly
of Indonesian origin) have been detained, almost all for
alleged immigration irregularities. Even the establishment
media seems a big shock, even though they have been trading
heavily on Bali bombing scare stories.

Meanwhile NSW's Labor Premier Bob Carr has called for a
US-style Homeland Security Dept and a local equivalent of
the US Patriot Act and the WTO comes to town November 13-15
and will be hosted in a hotel on the site of the last
Olympics (conveniently still covered by special martial-law
type legislation).

We should see which side the various political forces stand
on these issues before we continue the discussion on the
character of the Australian Labour Party. This morning,
delegates from the ALP "left" led NSW CFMEU and AMWU moved
today to prevent a November 14 unity march against the
Sydney WTO informal ministerial. Only a rally and picnic was
considered safe enough from the alleged danger of
confrontations with the police. Green Left Weekly was
attacked in this meeting for reporting that such a move was
afoot. Ex-Communist Party organiser Peter Murphy and
National Union of Students rep Matt Skellern (one of the
young "left" careerists Bob Gould praises). Green Left
Weekly will continue to tell the truth that embarrasses the
fake left in the ALP even at the terrible price of being
called Third Periodists by Bob Gould!

On a positive note, the outspoken international journalist
John Pilger faxed the Green Left Weekly office yesterday to
offer himself as a speaker for a large anti-war protest
rally planned for Sydney on November 30. The organising
committee wisely accepted the offer. I think Pilger has a
higher moral standing on the big issues of the day than any
Australian politician, intellectual or trade unionist in
Australia today. This was confirmed when 2100 people packed
out the Sydney Town Hall earlier this year to hear Pilger
address a Green Left Weekly public meeting. Hundreds were
turned away at the door and more had tried to buy tickets to
an event that was sold out more than a week before it took
place.


Peter Boyle
peterb@xxxxxxxxxx

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