The Sydney Morning Herald Libs' minor retreat to save troops call-out bill Date: 24/08/2000 By TONI O'LOUGHLIN in Canberra The Howard Government yesterday pledged to improve safeguards in its bill giving the defence forces new policing powers, after it took the extraordinary step of trying to placate Greens Senator Bob Brown. But Senator Brown and the Democrats remain unconvinced by the Government's assurance that the bill would not allow defence personnel to be deployed against peaceful protesters. The Government wants the bill passed in time for the Olympics. It claims its amendments would improve "safeguard and accountability measures". If adopted, the changes would require the Government to review the laws within six months of the first time the defence forces being "called out" or within three years of the legislation's introduction. The Government said it would also change the bill to prevent the Commonwealth using reserve troops in industrial disputes. Currently, the bill only prohibits State governments from using reserve forces and there is no prohibition on the use of regular military personnel during a strike. Other changes include the requirement to notify Federal Parliament within seven days, as well as the relevant State government, when the Commonwealth calls out the troops. But Senator Brown and the Democrats said they would move amendments to have the legislation revoked after the Games. The proposed changes would address some of the concerns expressed by the NSW Government, and the Federal Opposition welcomed them, although it would need to check to ensure civil liberties would be protected. The proposed changes reflect recommendations made by Labor and Liberal senators who inquired into the Defence Legislation Amendment (Aid to Civilian Authorities) Bill 2000. However, a spokeswoman for Attorney-General, Mr Williams, admitted there was a rising level of public concern. "We are aware that the issue has been ventilated by an email campaign and there have been some inquiries to Government members but not an inordinate number," the spokeswoman said. A spokesman for Senator Brown, who has led the campaign against the bill, was contacted by the Government to exchange views on the legislation late on Tuesday. "They put to me that there was enough protection in the bill because three ministers had to be assured that a State government couldn't handle the situation," the spokesman said. Under the bill, defence forces can only be called out to quell "domestic violence" if the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister and the Attorney-General, or a State government, considers the police force incapable of controlling a situation or if the Commonwealth's interests are threatened. The Democrats' defence spokeswoman, Senator Vicki Bourne, said: "In the end, what we really want is a sunset clause. However, we will probably end up voting against it because it's just too rushed." This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited. -- ********************************** 'Click' to protect the rainforest: Make the Rainforest Site your homepage! http://www.therainforestsite.com/ ********************************** ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
