Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is facing pressure from the Greens to take advantage of his parliamentary majority to implement a human rights act, which has drawn criticism for galvanising judicial activism and limiting religious freedom. Source: The Australian.
After the May 3 election landslide handed Labor the Senate numbers to pass legislation with only the support of the Greens, the minor party offered the Prime Minister its support to pass “meaningful protections into law”.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said she was “carefully considering” the recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry into a legislative framework initiated by her predecessor, Mark Dreyfus, signalling her support for “protecting and promoting human rights”.
But constitutional expert Greg Craven has warned a federal human rights act would hand extraordinary power to the judiciary that would be difficult for the parliament to overrule, describing it as a “suicide note” for Labor.
“Anything you can imagine that Mr Albanese is trying to do, from superannuation to defence, would have someone trying to challenge it under a human rights act,” Professor Craven said.
A parliamentary committee, which included six Labor MPs, recommended in May last year that the Government implement a federal act, but the Government has not formally responded to the report.
Greens justice spokesman David Shoebridge said the Labor-initiated inquiry had set out an example for a human rights act based loosely on the model proposed by the Australian Human Rights Commission, that “all parties can get behind”.
Jesuit priest and human rights lawyer Fr Frank Brennan, who chaired the human rights consultation initiated by the Rudd government, said a human rights act needed to have “real teeth” so it cannot be struck down by the courts.
Fr Brennan said he had since given up on seeing a human rights act implemented.
“I admire the people who continue to agitate for it, but I invest my energies in other things,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s very likely to result from an Albanese Government.
“Anything that did emerge from the Albanese Government is likely to be not much more than the Queensland, ACT and Victorian models. I don’t think they’re worth the candle.”
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PM under pressure over calls for a human rights act (By Rhiannon Down, The Australian)
