Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The Magnificent 7 & the 3 Stooges

Yesterday the Perth District Court found that the City of Belmont councillor, Janet Powell, had not perjured herself when giving evidence in a misconduct restraining order hearing almost two years ago.

Councillor Brenda Martin, new to Belmont Council at the time, applied for a misconduct restraining order(MRO) when a former-councillor who lived across the road from her, pursued her aggressively in a manner she found intimidating.

Ms Powell told the Magistrate's Court at the MRO hearing for Brenda Martin, that the same former councillor had previously assaulted her & grabbed her by the neck when she was also new to council. She added that the man had to be pulled away from her and physically restrained by two people.

The District Court decision came after a nerve-wracking year-long wait, and a week-long trial, during which evidence was heard from witnesses to the assault.

The trial highlighted budget concerns at the DPP which over the last few years have been a focus for the media spotlight, detailing staff shortages and poorly-researched cases.

All evidence presented to the District Court had previously been supplied at length to the Cannington CIB, who proceeded with the charges despite overwhelming evidence that Powell had not perjured herself when she spoke of the assault.

The basis of the Cannington Detectives' case, that came about as a result of Janet Powell testifying when Martin required a Misconduct Restraining Order against the same man, flies in the face of government initiatives of 'zero tolerance' to violence against women.

In summary, QC Tom Percy told the court how the DPP's QC Ian Marshall had started with a 'Magnificent 7(witnesses),' but had ended up with the '3 musketeers,' as the prosecution's case against Powell rapidly disintegrated.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Anti-association laws - curbing disorganized crime

South Australia is set to introduce anti-association laws for 'bikies'(who exactly decides who fits in this category, one might well ask?) this month, with the inquiry by the Parliamentary Committee on the Australian Crime Commission still yet to be finalized.

The laws have been criticized by the legal fraternity, because in their implementation it's inevitable they'll encroach on basic freedoms Australians expect to have - the right to assemble and the freedom of association.

Depending on one's demographic and upbringing, over 6 family gatherings or meetings with friends in a year, could find one incarcerated(no fines) for 5 years.

It is fairly safe to say that the proponents and supporters of this legislation haven't ever been motorcycle club members - they've never been labelled as either 'bikies' or 'bikers.' Nor is it apparent that they belong to any ethnic minority or religious groups that incur any particular prejudice, & a first-hand understanding of disadvantage may well have bypassed them. It is, as such, rather unsurprising that they fail to see the potential for this legislation to infringe on basic rights and freedoms, the sorts of rights and freedoms that many double income/kids & mortgage-type citizens take for granted will be there on Saturday, when they actually have time to associate or assemble.

One of the problems of legislation like this, like the public interest disclosure laws hurried through parliament in each state that effectively silence whistleblowers, is that it draws mainstream media coverage only when it affects political refugees, it would seem.

So without Fourth Estate scrutiny, one of the unhindered insidious effects of this law is that it lessens the burden of proof of 'criminality' to an assumption, a suggestion at best - without appropriate checks and balances in place for those in privileged positions of authority who can decide just who could potentially be considered a 'criminal' at some point in the future as a result of the discussions(the content of which doesn't have to be monitored, of course)that they have with their friends and family.

South Australia is one of the few states without any overseeing anti-corruption body and there has been a long history of public interest disclosures relating to corruption within the public service there, that have failed to be investigated since the closure of the federal body, the National Crime Authority.

Any inquiry into the application of these laws needs to also examine whether it is appropriate for a state in which there is no higher means of government accountability, to have the power to arrest people for merely meeting, & not committing a 'crime.'

Figures in other states have indicated that annually gang-related crime totalled less than one percent of offenders arrested, although the South Australian government has refused to release their figures, despite claiming a dire need to constrain the solo big bad bogeyman, 'bikies,' aka "the poisonous tentacles of crime" - but how long will it be before another group is also claimed to be a out of hand(a 1% outlaw)problem needing to be 'controlled'? Why have those South Australian gang-related arrest figures not been released to the public?

The SA laws would entitle the state Attorney General to issue a control order, based on secret intelligence(with no need to justify the intell to anyone else) from the police commissioner upon any citizen regardless of any prior criminal record or not.

Any senior South Australian Police officer would also be able to issue a public safety order based on as little as suspected connections to members of clubs.

Both control orders and public safety orders not only restrict who a person is permitted to speak, email or meet with, but also the areas a person is allowed to travel to or through - is it sounding like Eastern Europe yet? If it doesn't try this on for size - there is also an idea of satellite monitored tracking devices being used on bikes in conjunction with front and rear plates, that have potential to do a lot more than simply identify speeding motorists.

There are many reading this who will readily cite mainstream media stories that tell of violence and intimidation by 'bikies,' but the same media who write those stories will also be controlled from meeting with any sources other than the police - will that yield balanced reporting, no, & the police will have more control than they do already over a dying news media.

A witness to the fabrications pushed in the msm over the last 35 years, Eddie Withnell, spoke to the Committee about the bias delivered to readers by journos largely reliant on police sources to meet their daily copy.(his submission to the Parliamentary Committee on the ACC can be read here)

For those of you who don't realize, it is now unlawful to discriminate in employment on the basis of prior & irrelevant criminal records. The head-in-the-sand policy that makes the wider public believe, via the media & via the police, that criminals are pariahs rather than just another part of a society(someone's sibling, parent or nanna) desperately in need of community cohesion, is as out of step as these new laws, which have the capacity to turn virtually anyone into a criminal.

To assume 'guilt by association' is perhaps human nature, but should it be a part of our law? Guilt by association laws have come under fire from the United Nations and are most frequently seen in application to fears of terror acts, such as in the Haneef case, in which Dr Haneef was vilified and deported only to later be allowed back into the country with no case answer for.

Those who have a loved one convicted of a crime will most likely know the burden of being pursued or harassed, often unrelentingly - assumed an accomplice. Those of you reading this who have a conviction will know that you are never considered by the police, the media & as a result society, as 'rehabilitated,' & it serves as one of the biggest contributing factors to a lack of employment and subsequent recidivism that creates a lifelong cycle of poverty & offending behaviour.

It's these divisions, historically created by bigoted, suspicious minds and opportunistic, lazy investigators, that have been the source of some of WA's more public injustices over the last decade. In WA we've had demonstrated for us spectacularly over recent years, the immoral stigma of 'criminality' visible in a number of false murder convictions, that have been over-turned, which should serve as a timely reminder - in theory at least, with regard to the introduction of the anti-association laws.

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Mick Jagger, the only knight of the British realm to cavort & wiggle his tushy in white lycra hotpants on international television, yesterday turned 65 y/o.
In an era marked by right-wing conservatism, The Rolling Stones enforced rebellion and gave the world permission to be angry in songs such as Gimme Shelter, protesting the horror of war, at that time in Vietnam, but today as relevant as ever.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

D'oh

A breakthrough??

This has got to be a turn for the books, although someone nicknamed The Magnet could be forgiven for having doubts about the veracity of their claims.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Out of the blue

You know it's not everyday that a humble blogger gets to meet one of their own fans, let alone one of those who cop such a hard time on this blog & it's true, that there are certain spin-affected sections of the public sector that do attract more attention than others here at the Magnet.

So this toon is for Brock, a devoted SA Magnet reader, & until a recent change in comments policy after a trolling incident, he was a regular commenter here.
{I particularly liked the opinions you gave on the Jan 4 post, they showed so much empathy for the grieving families.} Thx so much for your delightful conversation whilst I endeavoured to work on Tuesday evening.

The Perth Blues Club hosted a great blues night for NAIDOC week with Indigenous musicians from all over Oz, including local jazz vocalist Lois Olney

singer/guitarist Clint Bracknell

world/r&b fusion duo Djiva,

and songstress Candice Lorrae.


Brock, I look forward to your return so I can post your photo here(how remiss of me - ladies, he looks like a short version of Christian Bale) for all my girlie mates in the Blogosphere who have a bit of a thang for boys in uniform(blue ones, that is).

It's always great to get feedback it's good to know you & your mate enjoyed the 'free hugs day' news feed & I think, from your apparent interest in the local Indigenous community, you'll get a lot out of the NAIDOC feed this week.

Thanks again for going out of your way to check in at the gig just to say hi & that you were moved to try your hand at journalism as a result of reading my work - what an outstanding effort, good luck with the whistleblowing issues.

Some of our other SA readers have expressed a similar interest in turning from policing to journalism. We do have a very dedicated readership here at The Magnet, made up of those who have a keen interest in human rights and civil liberties.

Friday, July 04, 2008

Thanks



Any artist brave enough to get up on stage wearing this gear has got to qualify as a hero. The small challenges & accomplishments that become just an everyday part of people's working lives are seldom weighed by their impact, even when they are as memorable as Sly's headwear.