not too much

Greetings to my American friends!

As I was driving to work this morning, ABC Classic FM reminded me that it is July 4th, by playing Sousa's Presidential Polonaise (Cincinnati Pops Orch / Erich Kunzel, Regis RRC 1018).

In exercising its great power and influence, may America never forget the words of its Declaration of Independence, that all people are "created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."



And if Americans are beginning to have second thoughts about presidential monarchy under King George W., here's a thought: join Canada!

The United States of America came into being through an act of rebellion against an English monarch, but Australia came into being in part by the signature of a monarch of the United Kingdom, on this document on 9th July 1900: Queen Victoria's Commission of Royal Assent to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900.

Sadly, no nation is innocent of breaching the liberties of its people, certainly not Australia. On 2 Jul 07 the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Prof. John McMillan, released final reports relating to the wrongful immigration detention of 247 people during the years 1993 to 2007. The reports highlight appalling deficiencies in Australia's immigration administration leading to the wrongful detention of people who were Australian citizens or lawful visa holders. There have been data problems, failure correctly to notify applicants when visa applications were refused, unlawful processes relating to detention, and other legal problems where people were wrongly detained and or wrongly released from detention.

As the Ombudsman said,

The loss of freedom through detention can have grave consequences for the individuals and their families. There should be nothing short of a careful and lawful exercise of the power to detain a person, characterised by thorough attention to detail and ongoing review of any decision to detain a person. Unfortunately, this was not the case in the majority of these matters. It is inexcusable that there were such frequent errors leading to the detention of people who had a lawful right to live unrestrained in the community.

The Ombudsman acknowledges some change to remedy systemic incompetence by immigration authorities, but problems remain. Greens Senator Kerry Nettle backed the Ombudsman's concerns about Section 189 of the Migration Act, saying it "sets too low a standard of proof for detaining a person and it must be amended to avoid a repeat of these tragic cases. The recent release of a woman who was detained for over six years indicates there is still the need for substantive change."