Liberty: A History of Civil Liberties in Australia PDF
Preview Liberty: A History of Civil Liberties in Australia
libeRty James Waghorne is a fellow in the School of Historical Studies at the University of Melbourne, where he completed his PhD, on the Australian Council of Civil Liberties, in 2008. He manages an oral history project of the History of the University Unit, as well as the Australian Centre literary and cultural awards, and is currently working on a commissioned history of the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration. Stuart Macintyre is the Ernest Scott Professor of History and a Laure- ate Professor of the University of Melbourne. He is a fellow of the Austral- ian Academy of the Humanities and the Academy of the Social Sciences. Among his publications are A Concise History of Australia (Cambridge University Press, 1999) and volume four of The Oxford History of Australia (Oxford University Press, 1986). LibertyText2proof.indd 1 12/05/11 12:13 PM LibertyText2proof.indd 2 12/05/11 12:13 PM James Waghorne and stuart macintyre libeRty A History of Civil liberties in AustrAliA LibertyText2proof.indd 3 12/05/11 12:13 PM A UNSW Press book Published by NewSouth Publishing University of New South Wales Press Ltd University of New South Wales Sydney NSW 2052 AUSTRALIA www.newsouthpublishing.com.au © James Waghorne and Stuart Macintyre 2011 First published 2011 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publisher. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Waghorne, James. Title: Liberty: a history of civil liberties in Australia/ by James Waghorne and Stuart Macintyre. ISBN: 978 1 74223 265 2 (hbk.) Subjects: Liberty. Civil rights – Australia – History. Other Authors/Contributors: Macintyre, Stuart, 1947– Dewey Number: 323.440994 Design Di Quick Printer Everbest China This book is printed on paper using fibre supplied from plantation or sustainably managed forests. LibertyText2proof.indd 4 12/05/11 3:22 PM Contents Abbreviations vii Introduction 1 1 Between Depression and war 8 2 War under Menzies 28 3 Total war and reconstruction 47 4 Cold War 79 5 Revival and law reform 111 6 Rebuilding the Council 137 7 Human rights 166 Guide to sources 194 Notes 197 Index 224 LibertyText2proof.indd 5 12/05/11 12:13 PM LibertyText2proof.indd 6 12/05/11 12:13 PM Abbreviations ACCL Australian Council for Civil Liberties ACLU American Civil Liberties Union ACTU Australian Council of Trade Unions ALP Australian Labor Party ASFL Australia-Soviet Friendship League ALRC Australian Law Reform Commission ASIO Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation BCAL Book Censorship Abolition League CAR Council for Aboriginal Rights COIN Coalition Opposing Identity Numbers JCCFAS Jewish Council to Combat Fascism and Anti-Semitism MHR Member of the House of Representatives NCA National Crimes Authority NCCL National Council for Civil Liberties NLF National Liberation Front NSWCCL New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties RSL Returned Servicemen’s League vii LibertyText2proof.indd 7 12/05/11 12:13 PM RSSAILA Returned Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Airmen’s Imperial League of Australia THC Trades Hall Council UAP United Australia Party UN United Nations USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics VCCL Victorian Council for Civil Liberties VJBD Victorian Jewish Board of Deputies VRIAC Victorian Refugee Immigration Appeals Committee WWF Waterside Workers Federation viii LibertyText2proof.indd 8 12/05/11 12:13 PM introduction When federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock introduced new anti- terrorism legislation in November 2005, he justified its infringement of civil liberties on the grounds that defendants would have recourse through the courts. He also argued that the new powers did not con- travene international principles of human rights, but would ensure the security of the individual against the threat of terrorism.1 Fifty-six years earlier, in September 1939, Prime Minister Robert Menzies introduced into parliament his National Security Bill. Its aim was to grant the government increased powers to fight World War II. Under the legislation the government could make regulations with- out reference to parliament on all matters it deemed necessary for the prosecution of the war. The Labor Opposition obtained some safe- guards, but was unable to prevent the passage of the Bill into law. Menzies argued that the war was a battle for ‘freedom and free belief, and the value of every individual soul’. During the war, he insisted, ‘our institutions, Parliament, all liberal thought, free speech, free criti- cism, must go on’, for it was these that provided the basis of freedom.2 1 LibertyText2proof.indd 1 12/05/11 12:13 PM
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