Against an Australian Bill of RightsLibertarian and physicist Peter Rohde explains why enshrining a Bill of Rights into Australia’s constitution would be a dangerous move, shifting power from elected representatives to an unpredictable and unaccountable judiciary.
Bill of rights
Human rights: why we need a charter
Emotional, fear-mongering and ill-informed comments about a human rights charter do not make for robust, reasoned, logical debate, writes Mark Blumer.
Human rights: what is Rudd waiting for?
Is the government backing away from introducing a bill of rights? In the absence of any serious negatives, we should expect a human rights act within this parliamentary term, writes Susan Ryan, chair of the Australian Human Rights Group.
Charter of rights is “stone cold dead”
It now seems the Brennan committee report will not recommend an Australian bill of rights. How did such a good idea get bogged down in the fallacy that judges would abuse their power? asks Richard Ackland.
What a liberal Bill of Rights could look like
Let’s call a spade a spade: the debate over Australia’s Bill of Rights is really a debate on how government power should be limited, says Timothy Brown.
Human rights good for Canadians but not for Australians
Canadians share with Australians many of the same values and have a similar outlook on life, however…
Brennan says Victoria’s rights charter is wrong; should we be worried?
Is Frank Brennan the right person to be heading Kevin Rudd’s national consultation on a charter of rights? Asks Greg Barns.
Bill of rights debate: Scare mongers vs self-loathing liberals
The best way to protect rights is to prevent laws that breach them in the first place, writes Bernard Keane.
Why is Australia the only western country without a Bill of Rights?
Perhaps we simply can’t be bothered?
Furphies rise to greet the bill of rights
Conservatives are working up the mother of all scare campaigns against the idea that Australia should protect human rights through law, writes Greg Barns.
Media and privacy II: we need a bill of rights
It is beyond argument that currently the Australian law does not adequately protect the right of all individuals in our society to privacy, writes Greg Barns
Mosley case a privacy lesson for Australians
Australian citizens are in the second class carriage when it comes to protection of their privacy, writes Greg Barns.
What’s so wrong with a judiciary dealing with rights?
Unelected judges constitute only the most obvious way by which we give effect to Plato’s idea of the “philosopher monarch”, writes barrister Stephen Keim.
2020: Behind the scenes with the governance gang
Maxine McKew caused consternation when she looked through proposals from the 2020 Governance stream and asked where the Big Idea was. But she was right, reports Bernard Keane.
