Youth crime Qld: Govt has purposefully bypassed the way democracy is meant to function
The democratic process in Queensland has been irrevocably damaged this week and what has occurred should send shivers down the spine of every person in this state, no matter their views.
Opinion
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The democratic process in Queensland has been irrevocably damaged this week and what has occurred should send shivers down the spine of every person in this state.
It does not matter your views on children being held in watch houses, on the future of regional mining towns, or what powers police should have available to wield against sex workers.
What matters is the state government has purposefully bypassed the way democracy is meant to function.
The state government moved this week to push through more than 50 pages worth of legislative amendments without going through the committee process under the guise of “technicalities”.
These changes include; stripping children held in watch houses of their human rights, legislating so a coal mining company must house its workers at the town of Glenden, decriminalising public drunkenness and begging, removing police covert powers against sex workers.
And that doesn’t cover all the changes.
By doing this the government has shown it is willing to unashamedly and unapologetically circumvent proper process.
It will do what it wants, when it wants, with no regard to scrutiny or consultation.
It will override its own human rights law out of convenience, regardless of the impact.
And it begs the question, what’s next?
How low are they willing to go?
The degradation of democracy in Queensland has not come suddenly.
It is not unusual for the state government to slip in last minute amendments to legislation to bypass scrutiny.
The recent reforms preventing more than one rent increase a year is an example.
There has been the ongoing and fervent use of omnibus bills — legislation involving a grab bag of changes.
All this without going into the problems within transparency processes like budget estimates and the committee process.
Government MPs, in yelling across the parliamentary chamber, have evoked the ghost of the Newman administration in arguing the Opposition would know what bypassing the committee process looks like.
They point to the Newman government’s moves to push through bikie laws late in the night among other disruptions of process.
It is a weak argument that only serves to illustrate this government is no better than the villain they seek to paint.
We are in a frightening race to the bottom.
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