The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties (QCCL) is a voluntary organisation in Australia concerned with the protection of individual rights and civil liberties. It was founded in 1966 in order "to protect and promote the human rights and freedoms of Queensland citizens."Queensland Council for Civil Liberties. Retrieved on 30 May 2012. The QCCL is regularly asked by the Government to make submissions to committees, which is how bills are made in Parliament. These submissions cover issues such as closed circuit television, abortion law reform, sentencing issues in our court system and changes to legislation already in place, which are called amendments.
In 1979, Terry O'Gorman was elected President of the QCCL and served as president up until 1985. He again held presidency from 1990 to 1994. O'Gorman specialises in criminal law. The Fitzgerald Inquiry began in 1987 and Tony Fitzgerald, QC, was appointed as its head on 26 May. The inquiry was a turning point in the fight for civil rights and the investigation of police misconduct and corruption. During the Inquiry, Terry O'Gorman cross-examined Joh Bjelke-Petersen, who had attempted to shut down the inquiry unsuccessfully.
History
Pre-council history The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties is a sub-branch of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties, established in 1936.Waghorne, James, and Stuart Macintyre Liberty: A History of Civil Liberties in Australia. Sydney: UNSW, 2011. Print The Australian Council for Civil Liberties gives a national voice for Queensland, New South Wales and Victorian civil liberties councils. The continual violations of civil liberties in Queensland, particularly the suppression of civil rights during Protests against the Vietnam War, led to the formation of the QCCL.
Meetings On 20 June 1966, the first meeting to establish a Queensland Council for Civil Liberties was held. This meeting was disrupted by groups of left and right wing political persuasions who disagreed on how to achieve the major objectives of the CouncilClarke, Eddie. Guardian of Your Rights:Queensland Council for Civil Liberties: A History, 1966–2007. Brisbane: Supreme Court of Queensland Library, 2008. Print.
A second meeting was held on 19 August 1966, but again this meeting was infiltrated by the right wing organisation The Catholic Action Group who aimed to prevent the Council obtaining a left-wing orientation. At this meeting the group dominated the newly formed council with conservative views and altered the name of this newly evolving civil liberties group to 'The Queensland Association for Civil Liberties.' Due to this takeover, many members withdrew and The Queensland Association for Civil Liberties once again changed its name, this time to the Ombudsman Association of Queensland.
A third attempt to create a Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, free of political or sectarian influence, was made at a private meeting on 19 October 1966. The development of this group succeeded and the group received recognition from both the New South Wales and Victorian Council for Civil Liberty groups.
Civil liberties and the right to strike Australian Governments have produced many Acts of Parliament and subsequently, various amendments to try to find a solution to striking. Meanwhile, the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties work to facilitate safe and productive striking practiceMurphy, D.J. The Big Strikes. St Lucia:University of Queensland Press, 1983. Print In 1912, the right to strike was essentially quashed by a conservative Queensland government, led by Digby Denham, who passed the 1912 Industrial Peace Act in Queensland, which was an Act imposing penalties on strikers. Following this first instance of the government retaliating to strikers and subsequent strikes, The State Transport Act 1938 and The Industrial Law Amendment Act 1948 extended the power of the police to use force and arrest citizens without a warrant, effectively reducing protests and strike action.
The Industrial Law Amendment Act The 1948 Queensland Railway strike was a strike lasting nine weeks, from February to April 1948, and concerned the wages of Railway and Locomotive workers in Queensland. It was prompted by a low-wage policy introduced by the Halon Labor Government.Baker, David. "Barricade and Batons: an historical perspective of the policing or major industrial disorder in Australia." History of Crime, Policing and Punishment Conference. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2009. Web. 4 May 2012 The Government issued the Industrial Law Amendment Act in order to prohibit protests and strike action.Crawford, Christopher. "Civil Liberties, Bjelke-Petersen & A Bill of Rights: Lessons for Queensland". Bond Law Review 21:6 (2009): 1–23. Web. 30 March 2012. As well as this, a state of emergency was issued by the Hanlon Government.Baker, David. "Barricade and Batons: an historical perspective of the policing or major industrial disorder in Australia." History of Crime, Policing and Punishment Conference. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2009. Web. 4 May 2012. Police powers were extended, and through the initiation of these acts they were given the power to arrest citizens without a warrant and use force where necessary. Severe police brutality occurred during an illegal march on Saint Patrick's Day, 19 March 1948, when strikers were arrested, several demonstrators were hospitalised and union offices were raided. Eventually, wage increases were granted and emergency powers were revoked.
The State Transport Act During 1966, the Government commenced severe violations to civil liberties of Queensland citizens, this time in response to anti-Vietnam War demonstrations.O'Malley, B. "The Day the Vietnam War Riots Broke Out in Brisbane." The Courier Mail. 2009 Web. 30 April 2012 The Federal Government of Australia introduced conscription in order to send Australian troops to the Vietnam War and in response to Anti-Vietnam War protests, the Queensland Government introduced the Traffic Act.
Anti conscription marches were held throughout Australia on 5 October 1966 and Queensland was the only state in Australia where the police made misuse of the Traffic Act and arrested a number of demonstrators.Prentice, James. "Remembering the Brisbane Protests 1965–72: The Civil Liberties Movement." Queensland Review 14.1(2007): 25–37. Web. Under the Traffic Act, police permits were required to have marches or meetings, even to display placards, and permits could be refused without reason.Stafford, Andrew. Pig city: from the Saints to Savage Garden. St Lucia, Qld: UQP, 2006. Print. Brian Laver, one of the students who got arrested, chose to be imprisoned instead of paying a fine to show his resistance of the laws and regulations used to suppress demonstrations and marches. QCCL President at the time Jim Kelly wrote in an article featured in The Courier-Mail in January 1967 that the Council supported him.
Free speech and the Objectionable Literature Act Under the Objectionable Literature Act of 1954, the Parliament of Queensland established a Literature board of Review so that the government may outlaw the distribution of questionable publications.Applegarth, Peter. "Civil Liberties." The Bjelke-Petersen Premiership, 1968–1983: Issues in Public Policy. Ed. Allan Patience. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire Pty Ltd, 1985 This meant that the review held the power to ban any and all publications that were seen to be:
Unduly emphasizing acts of sex, horror, crime, cruelty, and violence. Blasphemous, indecent, obscene, or likely to be injurious to morality. Likely to encourage depravity, public disorder, or indictable offence. Otherwise calculated to injure the citizens of Queensland.Section10 Objectionable Literature Acts, 1954–1967 (QLD) in, Crawford, Christopher "Civil Liberties, Bjelke-Petersen & A Bill of Rights: Lessons for Queensland," Bond Law Review. (2009) 21:1. 29 March 2012 http://epublications.bond.edu.au/blr/vol21/iss1/1 The board of review consisted of four men and one woman, appointed by the governor-in-council.Fitzgerald, Ross. "Censorship in Queensland 1954–83" Australian Journal of Politics and History EISSN 1467-8497, 04/2008, Volume 30, Issue 3, pp. 348 – 362 The board was able to ban literature without any notice of a prohibition order, nor were they required to hear representations from any publishers or distributors. Additionally the board was able to ban future issues of a publication regardless of whether the literature had been examined or not, however bans could be lifted if the board felt the publication had been 'reconstructed'. From the establishment of the Literature Board of Review in 1954 til 1981, 607 banning orders were made in Queensland with only six being disputed before the Supreme Court.
Civil Rights Action Committee and QCCL In June 1966, the Civil Rights Action Committee (CRAC) was established to seek reforms to the traffic regulations yet the Government rejected their submissions. The QCCL actively support the efforts of the CRAC. The University of Queensland Students' Union had also criticised the use of traffic legislation and the use of unnecessary police violence during the arrests of peaceful demonstrators. Furthermore, in early 1967, the Civil Liberties Co-ordination Committee (CLCC) and Students for Democratic Action, both based on the University of Queensland campus, had formed to oppose the restrictions of civil liberties.
The CLCC planned a protest march without a permit from the university to the city on 11 July 1967, but a mass meeting of students voted to postpone this until 5 September 1967 to give time for negotiations with the Queensland Government. On 7 August, Frank Gardiner, a moderate president of the Students' Union and later a vice-president of the QCCL, presented to Queensland Premier George Nicklin a submission to reform provisions of the Traffic Act and Council President Kelly and Council Secretary Lindsay Smith took part in preparing this submission.
Cabinet made a few limited concessions but they would not concede any changes to the major point of discontent – that police could refuse permits without reason. This heightened the suspicions of civil liberties advocates that the police, acting as agents of the Government, could discriminate against groups espousing unpopular causes. "A deeply conservative State Government, under Queensland Premiers Frank Nicklin and later Joh Bjelke-Petersen, was determined to show protestors "who was boss". Marchers could be targeted, bashed by police, arrested, strip-searched, and spend at least one, and sometimes several days in the police "watch house" before release.""Civil Liberties March and Sit-down in Roma Street, Brisbane, 1967." YouTube, 17 June 2011. Youtube.com. Web. 21 March 2012.
On 8 September 1967, students and staff of the University of Queensland marched without a permit from the campus to the city, opposite to The Cabinet. The march was obstructed by the police before it arrived at the destination and consequently they staged a mass sit-down protest in Roma St, causing 144 arrests. "The 1967 Civil Liberties March was a turning point in student and State politics, subsequently leading to mass protests against the Vietnam War and the success of the emerging student movement in the decade to follow. The 1967–68 and post-1977 campaigns were the only major protests of that era anywhere in Australia where the issue was specifically about civil liberties, free speech, and the democratic "right to protest" itself." In 1972, the Gough Whitlam Federal Government defused anti-Vietnam war protests when it ended conscription and commitment to the war in Vietnam.30 April 1969 Courier Mail.
Founding years
Membership