A senior Federal Liberal MP has criticised a push by state and territory governments to increase police powers, saying it threatens individual liberty.
Joe Hockey used a speech to the Grattan Institute in Melbourne last night to take aim at state governments trying to crack down on crime by granting police the power to conduct random searches.
“Surely Australian interpretation of liberty extends to the right of an individual to go about their daily business without being subject to a random body search by police,” he said.
“The police do not have to declare a reason for the body search. In my view this goes too far.”
A spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance, Tom Percy QC, says WA should drop the proposed laws in wake of the criticism.
Mr Percy says the Police Minister Rob Johnson should reconsider a push to introduce the laws.
“Anyone who knows anything about law and order, crime and punishment realises that harsher measures and increased police measures are not the answer.”
“I think Rob Johnson really needs to discover that there is no linear relationship between harsher measures and increased police powers and reducing crime.”
The Police Minister has dismissed criticism of the state’s proposed stop and search powers.
Rob Johnson says Mr Hockey has no idea of the problems confronting police in Western Australia.
“It’s very easy for some of the federal politicians, especially from the leafy western suburbs of Sydney to stand up and espouse their values and their thoughts but at the end of the day it is the authority of the state to bring in legislation that they believe will care for the safety of their citizens.”
From ABC News, click here for the original.
Random body searches go too far: Hockey
A senior Federal Liberal MP has criticised a push by state and territory governments to increase police powers, saying it threatens individual liberty.
Joe Hockey used a speech to the Grattan Institute in Melbourne last night to take aim at state governments trying to crack down on crime by granting police the power to conduct random searches.
“Surely Australian interpretation of liberty extends to the right of an individual to go about their daily business without being subject to a random body search by police,” he said.
“The police do not have to declare a reason for the body search. In my view this goes too far.”
A spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance, Tom Percy QC, says WA should drop the proposed laws in wake of the criticism.
Mr Percy says the Police Minister Rob Johnson should reconsider a push to introduce the laws.
“Anyone who knows anything about law and order, crime and punishment realises that harsher measures and increased police measures are not the answer.”
“I think Rob Johnson really needs to discover that there is no linear relationship between harsher measures and increased police powers and reducing crime.”
The Police Minister has dismissed criticism of the state’s proposed stop and search powers.
Rob Johnson says Mr Hockey has no idea of the problems confronting police in Western Australia.
“It’s very easy for some of the federal politicians, especially from the leafy western suburbs of Sydney to stand up and espouse their values and their thoughts but at the end of the day it is the authority of the state to bring in legislation that they believe will care for the safety of their citizens.”
From ABC News, click here for the original.