And here come Australia's draconian new "anti-terrorist" laws; not quite as Orwellian as Bush/Ashcroft's power-grab, but still a worry, especially surveillance powers. And life sentences for supporting terrorist groups could be a concern, depending on how the government defines "terrorist". (Greenpeace? Sinn Fein? Anti-capitalist protest groups?)

The legislation is expected to breeze through Parliament, with Labor pledging to support it (and having an after-the-fact inquiry into it), and the Greens and Democrats powerless against it (which, granted, is why the Democrats are so unexpedient to oppose it.)

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