AUSTRALIA’S DEMOCRACY HAS BEEN DOWNGRADED FROM ‘OPEN’ TO ‘NARROWED

’

Australia is now in line with the United States, Ghana and Botswana in terms of civil freedoms.


An annual report on the civil rights of countries worldwide has downgraded Australia’s democracy from “open” to “narrowed”.

The CIVICUS Monitor is a collaboration between human rights organisations around the world, to assess the democratic freedoms of 196 countries.

In the 2019 report, Australia’s democratic ‘status’  dropped. This was due to recent police raids on media outlets, the growing trend of prosecuting whistleblowers like Witness K - and the increasing crackdown on peaceful protest.

The CIVICUS Monitor combines several different sources of data looking at things like the freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and ‘expression’.

Countries are then given a ranking ranging from closed, repressed, obstructed, narrowed or open.

“All of these restrictive policies add up. We need to draw a line in the sand and say ‘enough’,” said the Centre’s Campaigns Director Tom Clarke.

“Powerful politicians and their corporate backers don’t always respect the rights of individual people or communities,” he warned.

We need to create an Australian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms to help level the playing field.

The 2019 report took particular aim at legislation passed by Australian parliament this year that allows law enforcement authorities to force tech companies to hand over user information - even if it is protected by end-to-end encryption.

The report’s assessment of the Australian civic space is echoed in public opinion, with just 59 percent of Australian’s saying they are satisfied with how democracy is working.

Australia is one of three countries that were downgraded in the Asia Pacific region in 2019, with India and Brunei going from obstructed to repressed.

In wider regions, Malta joined Australia in declining from an ‘open’ civic space to a ‘narrowed’ civic space.

The report also found that the percentage of the world’s population living in a ‘repressed’ democracy doubled in the last 12 months, to 40 per cent.

Countries categorised as ‘open’ decreased in the past year from 4 per cent in 2018 to 3 per cent in 2019.

As part of the research CIVICUS published a ‘watch list’ - countries where citizen’s rights are being actively infringed upon. Making the selection for 2019 were Colombia, Egypt, Guinea and Kazakhstan.

China was highlighted for the ongoing conflict in Hong Kong over the proposed extradition bill, and the continued mistreatment of protestors and journalists.

There were several brighter spots in this year’s report. Dominican Republic and Moldova were both updated in terms of civic freedom from ‘obstructed’ to ‘narrowed’.


https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/australia-s-democracy-has-been-downgraded-f...

Morrison and his team of corrupt & inept cronies don't even know what human rights are.

aquascoot wrote on Jan 16^th, 2020 at 11:58am:



"I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president." – President Donald Trump, July 23, 2019

No one admires someone who thinks they have the " right" to make every  thread about their own OCD and trump derangement syndrome 

aquascoot wrote on Jan 16^th, 2020 at 11:58am:



Yep. Mothra kinda cancelled herself out as an Australian 'right' there.
Having children is a privilege not a right and children raised by that gratefulness  turn out less wonky in the head, than those who born to just be a right to their parents.
We come from a Prison here, where even the first peoples here did time of 40,000+ years that life had become a dream for them.
We don't need 'rights' here.
To be Australian is to be 'free' from Rights. It's just another shackled bond that we don't need here for a crime we never committed.
People go from the Frying Pan of Britain's influence here, to the Fire of USA's influence here. They remain in their Prison 'cell', while the best of us go out into this country and work for the sheer joy of it.

aquascoot wrote on Jan 16^th, 2020 at 11:58am:


That's right Aqua, but authority can overwhelm us at times with excessive rules, regulations, laws, taxes and stupid politics

Governments, by nature, are tyrannical, and they're getting worse, and one of our responsibilities is to let them know we won't stand for it. They are supposed to be our servants but all they do is play politics in their own bubble forgetting that there are people out there who are trying to actually makes their lives awesome, but meet roadblocks everywhere, the bushfires being the latest one. If the politicians can't do their jobs properly and adequately, then they should piss off and get the hell out of it

Bias_2012 wrote on Jan 16^th, 2020 at 12:54pm:


I actually spent a bit of time up the territory and its a lot better up there.

A lot of people can organise a life with very little government input.

Part of growing up from being a toddler is to start to take responsibility for yourself and that INCLUDES your own emotional state.
It's on YOU to maintain a personal positive narrative even when things don't " go your way" because things will constantly not " go your way"

This idea of rights
This idea that if children are having a dispute at school or at uni they have to run off to an authority figure.
This idea that you run off to HR if you are " upset"
This idea that when nature tries to do you in ( a bushfire perhaps) , which nature has been doing for billions of years and now it's all the prime i ministers fault  .

This idea that you are a victim
That you have a birthright to happiness
That if things don't go your way, you should complain, cry and run off to an authority figure.

I don't think there is an idea around that is worse or that makes people WEAKER .

And you don't want to be weak. You don't want rights to shelter behind like a worthless coward . Because challenges are coming.
Illness, sick children , Mother Nature, death of loved ones, hardship....it's all coming and your rights won't help you.
Only your determination to shoulder a burden will help you.
Certainly the idea that complaining to the government is your go to position is insane

Ahh Politics - more trapped here than ever before.