Media Releases

Limits on the amount of money political parties, candidates and campaigners can spend on elections are needed to restore trust in democracy and achieve greater political equality, a Parliamentary Committee will hear today.

Laws that require telecommunication companies to keep records of every single Australian’s phone calls, text messages and movements for at least two years must be amended to prevent the indiscriminate invasion of people’s privacy, a Parliamentary Committee heard today.

“Queensland has a historic opportunity to have the best laws in the country for regulating the influence of money in politics. But first, the proposed laws need significant amendment to ensure not only that charities can continue to speak up, but that big corporate spending is reined in,” said Alice Drury.

The Australian Electoral Commission today released data revealing how much each political party and campaigners spent in the 2019 Federal election, and the donations used to fund those campaigns. 

The Human Rights Law Centre today released expert advice by a team of Queensland barristers led by Stephen Keim SC that warns that the Palaszczuk Government’s proposed changes to Queensland electoral laws could face a High Court challenge.

The Palaszczuk Government’s bill to limit political donations and election spending will have the unintended consequence of silencing charities and community groups unless it is amended, legal experts told a parliamentary committee today. 

Queensland’s new anti-protest laws have come under fire from United Nations experts who warn that the laws unduly restrict freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of speech.

The Palaszczuk Government today introduced the Electoral and Other Legislation (Accountability, Integrity and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2019 that would limit political donations and spending in Queensland elections.

Proposed laws that would require real-time disclosure of political donations would strengthen democracy, but amendments are needed to ensure they operate fairly, the Human Rights Law Centre said today.

The Palaszczuk Government’s announcement today that it will limit political donations and spending in Queensland elections has the potential to be a game changing reform to strengthen Queensland democracy.

The Morrison Government’s plans to implement a facial recognition scheme that endangered rights to privacy have been thwarted after a parliamentary review.

A proposed law that criminalises peaceful protest tactics would infringe Queenslanders’ right to freedom of expression, association and assembly, human rights lawyers told a parliamentary committee in Queensland.

NSW parliament should not pass a proposed law that would unfairly and unreasonably impact on peoples’ freedom to peacefully protest.

The Morrison Government’s plan to impose drastic new regulations on unions is unnecessary, unreasonable and will undermine workers’ ability to stand together, the Human Rights Law Centre told a parliamentary committee today.

Leading civil society groups say caps on election spending are vital to restoring democracy and achieving greater political equality.

The Morrison Government’s plans for a facial recognition identification and surveillance scheme are dangerously overbroad, lack safeguards and could dramatically alter the freedom of ordinary people going about their daily lives.

The Morrison Government’s plan to impose drastic new regulations on unions is unnecessary, unreasonable and will undermine workers’ ability to stand together, the Human Rights Law Centre, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and NSW CLC told a parliamentary committee.

Amidst reports last week of the extraordinarily high rate at which the Australian Federal Police accessed the communications history of journalists, the Human Right Law Centre, Digital Rights Watch and Access Now have called on the Morrison Government to urgently reform metadata laws.

The Australian Government should repeal laws that strip Australian dual nationals of their citizenship and place them at an unacceptable risk of the statelessness, family separation and indefinite detention, the Human Rights Law Centre said in a submission to a Parliamentary committee.

To strengthen democracy and trust in politics, the NSW public must know who is influencing political decisions, the Human Rights Law Centre stated in a submission to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.

The Australian Council of Social Service, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Human Rights Law Centre today welcomed Labor’s election commitments that would protect and encourage public advocacy in the community and charity sectors.

Lawyers for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange confirmed overnight that they have received a warrant and a provisional extradition request from the United States. The US indictment charges Assange with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for his role assisting whistleblower Chelsea Manning to leak US government information including evidence of civilian deaths and potential war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Government’s proposed new laws to enhance the Home Affairs Minister’s powers to strip citizenship from dual nationals would unnecessarily place Australians and their children at risk of statelessness and harm, the Human Rights Law Centre has warned a parliamentary committee this week.

The Human Rights Law Centre welcomes the passing of the electoral funding bill, which, after consultation with charities and not-for-profit organisations, is vastly different from the initial flawed proposal that would have stifled vital public advocacy by charities.

The Human Rights Law Centre welcomes the electoral funding bill that is to come before the Senate today, which is vastly different from the initial proposal that would have stifled vital public advocacy by charities.

"With this prosecution, the Government is trying to send a message to all public servants that if they dare to speak up about corruption or wrongdoing, the government will come down on them like a tonne of bricks. For a healthy democracy, we want people speaking up when they see something wrong," said Hugh de Kretser.

The Human Rights Law Centre welcomed changes recommended by a Parliamentary Committee into proposed national electoral laws, which are a further step towards rolling back proposed legislation that would have stifled vital public advocacy by charities.