Thread by @SophieTrevitt

THREAD: We have the AFP raiding the offices of journalists, intimidating our free press, threatening our democratic right to know, because @AustralianLabor and @LiberalAus have spent the last half decade passing laws that erode these fundamental freedoms #auspol

Late last year Lib & Lab passed amendments to the Espionage Bill which included extremely concerning provisions that (you guessed it) criminalise journalists for publishing about national security matters - even when they are in the public interest
sbs.com.au/news/sweeping-…

Just before Christmas, Labor capitulated to the Liberal party and passed unprecedented, world-first encryption laws that would allow police to force providers to create weak points in encryption services (effectively created vulnerabilities that can be exploited by others)

Labor passed the laws, despite opposing the changes, on the promise that ~maybe~ the government would consider their amendments later.

That's gone well hasn't it.
theguardian.com/australia-news…

In 2017 we saw the implementation of extraordinary, creepy, unprecedented laws to allow for the collection of metadata of private citizens.
abc.net.au/news/2017-04-1…

With the passage of now well over 60 pieces of legislation to combat terrorism & curtail freedoms; and a deliberate, prolonged regime of torment, torture & secrecy shrouding the indefinite detention of refugees, we have long been on notice about what this govt is capable of.

It was five years ago that the first tranche of new counter-terrorism laws passed both houses of Parliament with bipartisan support. These laws allowed up to five or 10 years' jail on journalists for exposing errors made by security agencies.
abc.net.au/news/2014-10-1…

I am as horrified by the @AusFedPolice storming into the offices of journalists- but let's not pretend for a second that this is surprising when @AustralianLabor and @LiberalAus have relentlessly eroded our rights to privacy and torn down the protections of our free press #auspol