“Border protection” — the very phrase is ominous. It evokes a country under siege, its frontiers threatened by the rampaging armies of Attila the Hun. No wonder our politicians feel that they have to be tough about it.
National security
Mungo MacCallum: Mungo: Tough stance on boat people borders on the ridiculous
Rudd’s super secret security bunker
Kevin Rudd’s fancy pants new hi tech war roomt may be help Rudd fulfill his West Wing fantasies, but it’ll be useless in case of nuclear attack. Luckily there is a secret underground bunker!
Rudd’s hi-tech war bunker
PM Kevin Rudd is building a $14m hi-tech crisis room in the heart of Parliament House, to use during terrorist threats and natural disasters. Think The Hunt for Red October. With Rudd as a less rogue Sean Connery.
What are Australians afraid of?
Roy Morgan has released a looking at the public perceptions of which countries are considered to be Australia’s biggest security threat, finding many are worried about Indonesia… except young people and Tasmanians.
Email monitoring won’t prevent terror attacks
Leaving aside the questionable morality of such a plan, the Rudd government’s proposal to allow employers to monitor their employees’ emails would nothing to prevent terrorist activity, writes Greg Barns.
Howardist hold-outs still driving “national security” agenda
The national security state mindset that afflicted the Howard Government and its bureaucrats is alive and well under the Rudd Government, writes Bernard Keane.
When the rule of law and national security collide
Politicians, when they pass draconian laws, often speak of the need to compromise our democratic principles in order to preserve “national security”, writes Stephen Keim.
Rudd government keeps Howard’s war on terror alive
Julia Gillard this morning approved proposed new laws that would give employers powers to snoop on workers’ emails. It’s all about counter-terrorism apparently, writes Katherine Wilson.
“It’s Time” or “It’s the economy, stupid?”
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this election is “It’s Time” versus economic management, writes Christian Kerr.
Evidence is in: Kevin Andrews must be sacrificed
It is a difficult task to ensure that protecting freedoms doesn’t destroy those same freedoms. Which is what has made the case of Mohamed Haneef such a dangerous failure for John Howard – the actions taken and the words spoken have given the impression that the Coalition Government is incapable of getting the balance right, argues Richard Farmer.
