I must thank my dear friend, Michael Darby, for allowing me to speak at the Freedom Protest held this Sunday in the city of Perth, Western Australia.
It was an impressive turnout, with more than 400 people showing up to protest Western Australian Government measures that impede on our basic rights and freedoms, including freedom of movement, expression and privacy.
In Western Australia, the Iron Ore Processing Agreement Amendment Act provides the Premier and his Attorney General exemption from the criminal law and civil liabilities.
Clause 12 of the Act provides that decisions and actions in relation to certain government decisions cannot be appealed.
It adds that “the Rules known as the rules of natural justice (including any duty of procedural fairness) do not apply to; or in relation to, any conduct of the State that is, or is connected with, a disputed matter”.
In addition, this Act prevents citizens from obtaining information about what the Western Australian government is doing to hold it accountable. Indeed, such a legislation seeks to make documents connected to a “disputed matter” exempt from freedom of information association laws and grants criminal immunity to the State and its agents.
The Premier now has power to make laws without reference to Parliament.
The Western Australian Parliament has also passed the Emergency Management Amendment (COVID-19 Response) Bill.
Under this Act, State authorities can issue directions to a “class” or group of people, rather than an individual, and impose penalties of $12,000 fines and 12 months of imprisonment for non-compliance.
These extraordinary powers may last much longer than that of the duration of the pandemic. While these security powers can be used during a state of emergency, only one of these provisions carries a “sunset clause”, thus not guaranteeing their expiry with the end of the alleged emergency.
In other words, the Act allows for expanded security powers during an unlimited period of time. The Western Australian government can use, for an indefinite period of time, invasive technology to analyse, control and determine everyone’s actions according to a carefully designed plan.
As can be seen, this is not just a concern regarding people’s health during a time of epidemic. It is primarily about power and control by the ruling elites of Western Australia. For nothing can produce a police state more rapidly than such arbitrary measures.
In fact, as a constitutional lawyer I can comfortably state that Western Australia is no longer a truly functional democracy, but currently experiencing a less open or more disguised form elected dictatorship.
Some scenes from the Freedom Protest in Perth, Western Australia on Sunday 6 December, 2020.
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Dr Augusto Zimmermann PhD, LLM, LLB, DipEd, CertIntArb is a well-known expert in Brazilian law, and the author of numerous books and articles on Brazilian Constitutional Law, including Direito Constitucional Brasileiro – Tomes I & II (Rio de Janeiro/RJ: Lumen Juris, 2014), and Curso de Direito Constitucional (4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lumen Juris, 2006). He is also co-author of the book Deconstructing Scomo. He is Professor and Head of Law at Sheridan Institute of Higher Education in Perth, WA, and Professor of Law (Adjunct) at the University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney campus. He is President of the Western Australian Legal Theory Association (WALTA), and former Law Reform Commissioner with the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia, from 2012-2017. Dr Zimmermann was chair and professor of Constitutional Law at Murdoch University from 2007 to 2017.
