Editorial: Safety overrides any civil liberties

IN 2010, the British government reportedly paid $1.6 million in compensation to a UK citizen who had previously been held by US authorities at Guantánamo Bay. Last month, Jamal Udeen al-Harith — seven years after receiving his Gitmo compo — killed himself in suicide attack in Iraq.

IN 2010, the British government reportedly paid $1.6 million in compensation to a UK citizen who had previously been held by US authorities at Guantánamo Bay. Last month, Jamal Udeen al-Harith — seven years after receiving his Gitmo compo — killed himself in an ­Islamic State suicide attack in Iraq.

Al-Harith is one of an estimated 200 ex-Guantanamo detainees who have re-enlisted for extremist terror operations after being set free. This is an important example for Australia to consider as the ­nation faces a potential influx of ­Islamic State butchers returning to their country of citizenship.

Already, 40 fighters involved in the bloody conflict in Iraq and Syria have come back to Australia during the past three years. They have not undergone the potentially moderating influence of imprisonment. Instead, they are returning to Australia fresh from the blood-soaked battlefields, still crazed for jihad.

If a significant percentage of Guantanamo detainees are still determined to die for their cause, it should be deeply worrying that their brothers in terror are set for an Australian homecoming — and for whatever local plans they may have. Intelligence experts now warn the federal government there is nothing stopping more than 100 homegrown terrorists — including those who have been fighting with Islamic State — from lawfully returning to Australia, despite anti-terror laws introduced more than a year ago to strip them of Australian citizenship.

Of the terror 100, only Khaled Sharrouf has had his citizenship stripped. The case was successful because the Lebanese government co-operated with Australia. Additionally, because the law is not retrospective, terrorists whose barbarity was known prior to May 2016 — when Islamic State was listed as a Declared Terrorist Organisation — may elude any customs barriers.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose government was responsible for obtaining the release of Islamic State self-detonator al-Harith, last month issued a statement regarding the issue.

“The fact is that this was always a very difficult situation where any government would have to balance proper concern for civil liberties with desire to protect our security,” Blair said, “And we were likely to be attacked whatever course we took.”

Western democracies, including Australia, continue wrestling with this balance problem while our ­enemies exploit every kindness to further their anti-freedom agenda.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, referring to active Islamic State fighters, yesterday vowed to “take every step we can to prevent them coming home”. This may require further laws that do not bother themselves so much with civil liberties. The safety of Australians is a priority far above the liberties of those sworn to destroy us.

Greens star in coal comedy

THE Greens have taken a break from their ongoing civil war to detail plans for the obliteration of the NSW economy. Federal Greens leader Richard Di Natale and NSW MP Jeremy Buckingham will today appear in coal capital Newcastle to announce their plan to phase out thermal coal mining in NSW by 2027.

This is like appearing in the Champagne region of France to demand an end to fermentation, or declaring Mount Panorama at Bathurst a no-petrol zone.

The coal industry in NSW is a $25 billion powerhouse supplying reliable energy and abundant jobs. Our Greens friends aim to close all of it down within just ten years,

“We have run out of time,” Buckingham said yesterday. “We are teetering on the edge of disaster and must act now or we will lock in catastrophic levels of global warming.”

He’s almost right. We have run out of time to tolerate the ruinous strategies of a party that regards dependable energy as a curse and we would be teetering on the edge of disaster if the Greens ever gained significant political power.

PETA playing lame name game

ANIMAL rights group PETA take a while to catch up. Nearly four decades after the rock band was formed, and 24 years since their last major chart success, PETA is asking Hunters & Collectors to change their name.

“We feel sure that it was never your intention to promote the killing of intelligent, sensitive and defenceless animals, but your name nevertheless may make hunting season seem appealing to your fans,” PETA’s associate director of campaigns Ashley Fruno wrote to the band. “By agreeing to change your name, you would help raise awareness of the cruelty inherent in hunting waterbirds and give ducks a fighting chance.”

Why stop there, PETA? We look forward to a campaign demanding that the Hunter Valley be renamed Cuddleland. And let’s see Peter Garrett take the initiative with his own band. Everybody would love to hear the many golden hits of Aussie rockers Midnight Renewable Energy.