Voice Your Views

Police Minister Rob Johnson has said:

“I get people coming up to me all the time almost every day of the week saying, “Good on you Rob, you’re doing a great job, you stick in there don’t let the bastards grind you down. But I can tell you I have not had one person come up to me and say, “Minister, Rob,” whatever they want to call me, “I think you’re wrong about this, this that and the other.”

If you think this legislation is wrong, let them know about it. Let’s be the so-called “bastards” who grind him down.

Write letters, emails, faxes.  Let the ‘decision makers’ know what you think.

Key Contacts

Colin Barnett, Premier

Mail: Department of the Premier and Cabinet, 197 St George’s Terrace, Perth, WA 6000
Ph: 9222 9888
Fax: 9322 1213
email: wa-government@dpc.wa.gov.au

Rob Johnson, Police Minister

Mail: 20th Floor, Governor Stirling Tower, 197 St Georges Terrace, Perth, WA 6000
Ph: 9222 9211
Fax: 9321 6003
email: Minister.Johnson@dpc.wa.gov.au

Your Local Contacts

A list of Members of Legislative Assembly
A list of Members of Legislative Council

Draft Letter

We encourage you to write your own letter.  If not possible, we urge you to alter this slightly or better yet – add a question in the middle. If you write a direct question and do not get an answer to it, you can reply with a request that they actually read your letter properly. Good luck, and have fun!

“Dear your addressee

I write to you concerned about the extreme steps taken by the West Australian Government toward creating a police state. The proposed Criminal Investigation Amendment Bill 2009 undermines my civil rights.  Removal of the requirement of ‘reasonable suspicion’ as the basis for a police search creates a licence to harass and intimidate any and every citizen a police officer ‘doesn’t like the look of’. It opens the door for discrimination and will ultimately decrease respect for the police force- something that none of us want, and the majority of the police force should not have to deal with.  For a supposedly “liberal” party it is a particularly incomprehensible proposal as it allows the government to infiltrate the personal lives of its citizens.

The Police Minister and the Premier claim they are interested in making the streets of Northbridge ’safe’. I do not believe that this legislation will increase my personal safety. First of all, the danger of Northbridge and nightclub areas has been greatly overstated.   On top of this, the criminal activity that is present will be pushed from one suburb to another.  This legislation will create a situation in which there will be no-go zones ; both for fear of crime, and fear of police harassment.  To be publicly searched is utterly humiliating.

The police already have many powers to search people- all that this legislation will do is create the opportunity for unreasonable searches.  I respect the police force, and do not want their work to be hindered by those who will inevitably abuse these powers and create animosity within Perth society.

I’m utterly disgusted by these new laws. I refuse to have my civil liberties taken so lightly.  This legislation will do nothing but remove my rights in return for no increase in safety.  I urge you to listen to me as a voter and as a citizen who does not want to live in a police state.

Yours truthfully,

Your name.”

  • We want your help to stop the Criminal Investigation Amendment Bill 2009. This Bill is currently under review in the Legislation Committee, and will be brought before parliament in early 2010.

    If passed, these “stop and search” laws will remove one of your basic civil rights.  Currently if a cop wants to search you, the police officer must be able to show they had ‘reasonable suspicion’ that you may be concealing objects pertaining to a crime.

    This legislation proposes to remove the requirement of reasonable suspicion.

    Removing the need for reasonable suspicion opens the door for unreasonable searches.

    If this law passes, you can be searched in whatever area the police commissioner decides needs to be targeted.

    There will be no parliamentary overview - and no legal defence for victims.  Perth, Northbridge, Fremantle and wherever else the Commissioner decides will turn into police-run zones where you can be stopped, searched, stripped and scrutinised at the whim of whoever is on patrol.

    We respect police, and we understand that they have a difficult job.  However, these laws will not increase safety.

    Instead they will push the problem into different areas, decrease respect for police, and find nothing that the police do not already have the powers to find.

    Are you ready to have your rights sacrificed for nothing?

    You can help to stop this legislation!

    • Write letters and emails to the Premier Colin Barnett, the Police Minister Rob Johnson or to your local MP. Click on the VOICE YOUR VIEWS link to see the addresses you can send your email to, or if you’re in a hurry send our form letter.
    • Draft a submission to the Legislation Committee.  Click LEGISLATION COMMITTEE to see how you can do this, and a draft of the submission on behalf of Search For Your Rights.
    • Be informed about your legal rights and opposition to the bill. Click YOUR RIGHTS in the menu for links to Legal Services Australia, and WORK TOGETHER for other groups who oppose this legislation.
    • STAY POSTED for future actions, protests and movements.

    Search for your rights!