The Dead Roo

“Our purpose is represent, raise and monitor issues affecting unpaid family Carers through the representative participation of Carers as candidates in Federal and State parliaments. The Carers Alliance will represent the rights of unpaid Carers of people with disabilities, mental illness, chronic illness or issues of frail age who need assistance at differing times in […]

 Whoops! - the picket was previously advertised as “next Wednesday” which is incorrect.  The date 29/8 is correct. - sorry.
 Please pass this link to friends and networks in Brisbane.
There will be a picket on Wednesday, the 29 August 2007 at 9.00 am. outside the Brisbane Magistrate’s Court, 240 Roma St. Brisbane to demand reform of […]

In the light of the incarceration of Dr. Haneef there are many commentators lamenting the end of some of the basic principles of our legal system such as the presumption of innocence and the separation of powers. I write the following from within the ranks of this commentariate.
In Queensland however there is another refraction […]

While I’ve tried to keep an eye out for it, the Peace Commission and Non-Violence Act 2007 went through first reading a couple of weeks ago.  It doesn’t appear to have gone through the House, so I think it won’t be long before it’s referred to committee and there’s a call for public submissions.
Now it’s […]

It’s fairly clear that the current government doesn’t want public (or even Senate Committee) scrutiny of bills, if even the resources available to Microsoft can’t get a submission in within the time given to the public.
The ALP Minority Report to the Content Services Bill 2007 (designed to keep internet porn from unsuspecting minors) details the […]

Give the ruckus the citizenship testing bill raised in the media and blogosphere, I’ve gone through the submissions in a fairly long review here.  In general, most were extremely skeptical of the test, and the powers the minister is arrogating.
However, if you want to be shocked, it’s worth reading the Australia for Australians submission, from […]

Since Fiji have sent the New Zealand Ambassador home, could Australia the US Ambassador on the basis of their human rights abuses?
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After the hoo-hah about the citizenship went down, the Citizenship Testing bill has been sent to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, and you are able to make comments. You’d better
be quick, because (again) the window for submissions is tiny. (Sent to committee 2007-06-13, advertised later, closes 2007-07-06).
You can get details about the bill […]

This new bill, proposed by federal Attorney General Phillip Ruddock, offers journalists a limited right to protect their sources in the face of police investigation. Except in the case of matters dealing with James Hardie.
A copy of Ruddocks bill can be found here.
I’ve highlighted the bit that appears to be the crux of the bill […]

In future I will only be presenting the Parliamentary Inquiries post once a fortnight. Two reasons, one is workload and the other is the fact that the Senate advertise’s inquiries fortnightly. I intend to post the next list of new and interesting parliamentary inquiries on the 18th or 19th of April.
In the mean time, very […]

This is a weekly post alerting you of opportunities to make submissions to parliamentary committees during the passage of legislation. As there are literally dozens of inquiries at any one time, this post is merely a selection of new and interesting ones.
“Good on you for encouraging people to engage with the parliamentary Inquiry process - […]

In the same vein as that great Australian comedian Dave Hughes: I’m disappointed tonight. Not so disappointed that Labor have snuck back in for another four more years in NSW, not so disappointed that the third party vote hasn’t been as strong as I think it should have been given the circumstances. No, I’m not […]

In the old days, newspapers used to write a pre-election editorial with their voting recommendations. - skepticlawyer

It is difficult to get enthused about an election that has been as utterly boring and supposedly predictable as tomorrow’s New South Wales state poll. Who cares who wins? Dumb and dumber are the candidates, the whole farce has […]

The Brian Burke scandal has effectively diverted attention away from the issue of global warming, to the benifit of both major parties.
We’ve been told that the actions of various people and that Brian Burke wanker mean a lot of things for democracy. Rudd’s not accountable, and the government are a bunch of peurile mud-slingers, and […]

Young Australians can write submissions to parliamentary inquiries, even if they are too young to vote.