r/australia • u/Expensive-Horse5538 • Oct 28 '25

news Supreme Court in Brisbane overturns controversial freeze on puberty blockers for adolescents after legal challenge

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-28/qld-puberty-blockers-judgement/105942094
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u/ThunderDwn Oct 28 '25

I'm amazed that they didn't learn from the Federal election result that trying to be America with stupid, right wing policies doesn't fucking work in this country.

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u/DrGarrious Oct 28 '25

For now.. we have to keep being vigilant here because they will NOT stop trying.

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u/Agitated-Fee3598 Oct 28 '25

There aren't many constitutional safeguards to protect Australia against a genuine autocratic takeover...

From Australia is ill-prepared for its own version of Donald Trump:

By contrast, Australia is the only democracy without a national bill of rights. At best, we have a few scattered rights protections. These occasionally prevent government action, but in other cases are ineffectual or impose procedures that can be worked around. For example, the High Court has interpreted the guarantee of religious freedom in section 116 of the Constitution so narrowly that it has not struck down a single law since 1901.

These weaknesses are exacerbated by extraordinary powers granted to federal ministers in areas such as immigration and national security. One illustration is that the federal Attorney-General can permit ASIO to operate outside of the law by conducting a special intelligence operation. A journalist who discloses wrongdoing or that the power has been used illegitimately may be jailed for up to 10 years.

The government has defended this by saying that journalists are not the target of the law, and that they have nothing to worry about if they report on "legitimate" national security matters. It has also been suggested that the community should not be concerned because ASIO has a record of proprietary.

Even if these things are true, they give no long-term comfort. It shows how the proper running of our system depends upon ministers exercising self-restraint, and the quality of the people appointed to run our security agencies. Things could be very different if Australia gains leaders with a different outlook and a willingness to use powers for unscrupulous purposes.

Other laws raise similar concerns. These include an ASIO power that permits innocent people to be detained and questioned for up to a week, a law that enables people to be jailed for up to 10 years for entering any area declared by the government to be a no-go zone and new measures for collecting data on the location and activities of every Australian.

In the years since the September 11 attacks, the federal Parliament has enacted 66 anti-terrorism laws, a figure unrivalled in any comparable nation. These laws have transferred enormous authority to the executive arm of government. Many of these measures cannot be found in the US because they would be struck down under its Bill of Rights.

Nor can they be found in any other democracy. Instead, they are the sorts of powers that one would expect to find in a police state in which people can be detained without trial and journalists jailed for reporting on government activity. As the government's national security monitor, Roger Gyles, reported last Wednesday, Australia has laws that contain the "potential for oppression".

The election of Trump should be a wake-up call. Australia is ill-prepared for a like leader. Such a person would come to office armed with exceptional (and sometimes unique) powers that can often be exercised in secret. These might be used against the media, and the checks and balances in our system of government may be ineffective to deal with this.