Fed: Govt using Olympics to gain more power over states

AAP General News (Australia)
08-27-2000
Fed: Govt using Olympics to gain more power over states

CANBERRA, Aug 27 AAP - The federal government was using next month's Sydney Olympics
as an excuse to gain too much power over the states, New South Wales Supreme Court Judge
Justice John Dowd said today.

Justice Dowd, a former state attorney-general, said the plan to allow the commonwealth
to send in soldiers to end terrorist incidents was an over-reaction to the upcoming Olympic
Games.

While he agreed there was the potential for terrorist problems with the Games, Justice
Dowd said the states were capable of handling problems and deciding when to call for extra
help.

"I think the Olympics are being used improperly to give the commonwealth powers that
we haven't needed in the last century and I don't see why we need them now," he told journalists
at Parliament House.

"I think it is a commonwealth over-reaction to a potential threat and I don't think
they have thought it through and I don't think they've discussed it sufficiently with
the states," said Justice Dowd.

The wide-ranging discretionary powers included in the Defence Legislation Amendment
(Aid to Civilian Authorities) Bill 2000 were inconsistent with the Australian ethos, said
Justice Dowd, who is the president of the Australian section of the International Commission
of Jurists.

"There is no need for troops to be called in, on the advice of politicians, unless
a state is clearly unable to handle any terrorist violence or other emergency," he said.

"In such circumstances, that will be a decision for the states to make on police advice."

The bill would create problems in the handling of terrorist attacks, with troops on
the ground unsure who was in control.

"The difficulty is that the states may not require the commonwealth forces to be bought
in and you will get a conflict of authority on the ground in a potentially dangerous situation,"

Justice Dowd said.

"It is just not necessary, it is being used in the World Economic Forum (in Melbourne
next month) and pre-Olympic hype to get through.

"This legislation is not the Australian way of doing things and should be withdrawn."

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KEYWORD: OLY DEFENCE DOWD

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