Australia to Illegalize Hamas - November 4, 2003

The Australian government is preparing to illegalize the Hamas movement and add it to its list of terrorist organizations.

Australian Attorney General Philip Rodok will present a bill to parliament Wednesday that would prescribe a maximal penalty of 25 years incarceration for anyone aiding, abetting or funding the organization.

The European Union added the Hamas to its list of terrorist organizations last September.


http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1067920686880&p=1008596981749

they are joining us.

btw, JPost got it wrong. It's Ruddock, not Rodok. Of course Hamas is a terrorist group, but I fail to see what placing them on a list here serves, apart from symbolic purposes, which in itself isn't a bad reason, and I don't think there was any disagreement in the Parliament about it. What there has been disagreement about is the govt's moves to change the way groups are put on the list. The plan is to give the Attorney-General full power to place any group he views as 'a threat to the national security of Australia' on the list without consultation with Parliament. I dunno, but I kind of have a problem with a creep like Ruddock being given that sort of power...

So my question is seeing how Hamas have never had any presence here or connections with Australia and it's highly unlikely that would change in the future, what difference does it matter if they were listed now or a year ago or a year in the future? I think it's near impossible for anyone to claim that they're any sort of threat to the security of this nation, and seeing they've never had any links here, it's not like they're going 'ouch! that will hurt!' over being on the list here...


Violet...

The plan is to give the Attorney-General full power to place any group he views as 'a threat to the national security of Australia' on the list without consultation with Parliament.

This is the kind of stuff that makes me nervous.I haven't heard about this before and didn't see anything in the article linked.

Thanks.

I'll have a look around and see if anything else is around about it, but I found this transcript from last night's 7:30 Report where it was mentioned, not that it says much more than I did:

"This morning as HMAS 'Geelong' was towing the luckless asylum seekers and their boat to an undisclosed location somewhere further out to sea, the Government was reintroducing proposed legislation that would allow the Attorney-General to ban terrorist organisations whether the UN has listed them or not.

The Opposition says it's not prepared to give the Government the cart blanche it wants, but will is prepared to support bans on a case-by-case basis.

In this case, Hamas and the Pakistani organisation, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hamas."

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2003/s983003.htm

Violet...

Kind of scary though.

?

it is but a gesture, nothing more.

beyond that, Premier Howard was a lackey to a campaign that murdered thousands more than Hamas ever could if given decades, in just a few months time--the most recent of a long history of such acts. Where is their concern there?

Just red meat thrown to certain of Australia's lobbying groups, like the hissing and spitting about Ashrawi, and a piece of the Howard regime's "rule by fear" campaign in place and at the expense of useful domestic programs.