South Australia
The sometimes out-of-control private security industry is being reined in a little in South Australia, with fingerprint and drug tests to be introduced for security personnel. There are about 150,000 private security guards in Australia. Many carry guns and are former police officers.
Although most people are not bothered by private security, it is a different story for many young people attending pubs and clubs. According to the September 13 Australian, in 2002 the SA government was told that 80% of security firms had links to outlawed motorcycle gangs.
Victoria
Privacy concerns have been raised by an inquiry into police telephone intercepts in Victoria, according to the September 14 Age. The inquiry was carried out by Tony Blunn, a former head of the attorney-general's department. Blunn found the existing laws so inadequate that he recommended the establishment of "comprehensive and over-riding legislation dealing with access to telecommunications data for security and law enforcement purposes".
He also recommended closer scrutiny before search warrants be given to the police, and that the review and authorisation procedures should be the responsibility of the attorney-general, not the Australian Federal Police.
Victorian ex-cop fined over database leak
A former Victorian police officer, found guilty of leaking confidential information to an accused drug dealer, has escaped any conviction.
A September 15 report from AAP said that Christopher Gerald Marks appeared before Victoria's County Court on the charge, and pleaded guilty to drugs charges. Judge John Smallwood imposed fines but recorded no conviction.
The police computer system in Victoria has been subject to a series of scandals over the last month as tens of thousands of pages of confidential information has been improperly released. The government is spending $50 million to upgrade the system.
Ticket inspectors caught out of line
Yarra Trams is standing by three ticket inspectors who set upon a suspected fare evader outside Melbourne University on September 13. Passers-by recorded the event.
According to the September 15 Age, the photos and video footage show two inspectors pinning a young man to the ground by his arms, another on top of him, and one grabbing the young man's hand and bending it back under his arm at the wrist.
One witness, described by the Age as "a middle-aged academic", said the young man was held down on the ground for about 10 minutes and was only released after further transport staff and police arrived. The victim was hyperventilating.
The ticket inspectors say that they suspected the man had not paid his fare.
Coming up: month of terror exercises
October is the month of "anti-terrorist" exercises with four states taking part. The combined forces of federal government agencies, state governments and police will join together for exercises in such places as Bendigo, according to September 15 <http://www.yahoo.news>.
From Green Left Weekly, September 28, 2005.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.