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Bali Nine can thank the civil libertarians

By James McConvill - posted Thursday, 7 September 2006


Looking at the bigger picture, what the civil libertarians did with their protests is stick their middle finger up at the Indonesians. The Howard Government was trying to repair the relationship with Indonesian by working at the cause of the problem, whereas the civil libertarians escalated the cause of the problem, and went further by shouting that Australia should not take into account the interests of Indonesians.

But as Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone wisely noted at the time, there are situations where Australians interests and Indonesian interests coincide. This was one of them. Where’s the proof? The end result is that the civil libertarians have in essence chosen for six young Australians to be brutally executed by firing squad so that one day when another boat load of illegal asylum seekers arrive on our shores, they can block up our courts -and in the process delay the opportunity for Australians to have their day in court.

So much for human rights!

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There is a growing disconnect between the well-groomed elite who dominate the civil libertarian movement in Australia, and ordinary hard-working Australians. Up until now, the majority of Australians have simply ignored the rhetoric of the civil libertarians as it has very little to do with their day-to-day affairs. But recent events involving the Bali Nine highlight that pushing the rhetoric of the elite to one side will not be enough.

The civil libertarians have not only become loud and extreme, but now pose a dangerous threat to the values that ordinary Australians cherish.

With the civil libertarian movement exposed with blood on their hands with the ordered execution of four of the Bali Nine this week, now is the opportunity for the civil libertarian movement to be restrained and stopped once and for all. Ordinary Australians should make this their mission.

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About the Author

James McConvill is a Melbourne lawyer. The opinions expressed are his personal views only, and were written in the
spirit of academic freedom when James was employed as a university lecturer.

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Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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