The Human Rights Bill 2018 is a carefully crafted con. Superficially it purports to conform with the legal principle that Australian legislation does not conflict with international law, and with Australia’s responsibility as a member state of the United Nations to fully observe and implement international law, but in fact the Human Rights Bill 2018 deliberately and intentionally avoids compliance with both of the above.
What I see as the main problem with the Human Rights Bill 2018 is the deliberately conceived total lack of recourse for breaches.
It is blatantly obvious from several Acts including the Public Service Act 2008, Local Government Act 2009, QCAT Act 2009, Anti-Discrimination Act 1991, and Guardianship and Administration Act 2000, that legislation ostensibly created to regulate the actions of each of the three arms of government intentionally omits any provision for recourse. Exactly the same criticism applies to the Human Rights Bill 2018.
A major percentage of human rights abuse in Queensland is attributed to the guardianship racket. The guardianship racket involves collusion between the non-constitutionally legitimate QCAT kangaroo tribunal, the Office of the Public Guardian and the Office of the Public Trustee. Note also that the doctrine of separation of powers has also been deliberately ignored by the Queensland government in the Guardianship and Administration Act 2000 provision joining the OPG & PTQ (bureaucratic entities) to QCAT (quasi-judicial entity) in all guardianship matters. The inherent brutality of QCAT, OPG and PTQ operatives toward their victims results in destruction of families and support networks, denial of all rights due to the victim, plundering of the victims estates and infliction of severe psychological injury on both victims and their supporters.
Neither QCAT, the OPG nor the PTQ are accountable to any power in Queensland or indeed any power within Australia. All these entities are laws unto themselves and they are all demonstrably immune from observance of any existing legislation. Their internal complaints review facilities (required by the Public Service Act) are totally shambolic, and both the Ombudsman and the crime Cover-up Commission are completely farcical, being more about covering up official malpractice than addressing it. I challenge the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee to identify even one instance where either the Ombudsman or the Crime Cover-up Commission has addressed official malpractice by a member of the legislature, bureaucracy or judiciary. The Legal Services Commission refuses to accept complaints against the PTQ and the oxygen-bandit Commonwealth Human Rights Commission isn’t interested in any complaint concerning QCAT, the OPG, PTQ or for that matter any state government politician, bureaucrat, judicial or quasi-judicial officer, department or quango.
The fact that QCAT members have been endowed with the same immunity as supreme court judges means that they can and do thumb their noses at all non-criminal legislation. Given that there is no facility for breaches of human rights legislation to be a criminal action, it follows that breaches of the Human Rights Act would also have no consequence for QCAT members. Furthermore, since the OPG and PTQ are legislatively joined to QCAT in all guardianship matters, this incestuous relationship extends the protection enjoyed by QCAT members to OPG and PTQ staff.
The Human Rights Bill 2018 involves renaming the Anti-Discrimination Commission to the Human Rights Commission. Historically the Anti-Discrimination has proven to be a complete farce. Among other issues, I am unaware of any occasion when it has addressed discrimination complaints involving any legislator, bureaucrat or member of the judiciary. In particular, I have attempted to file complaints regarding deliberate discrimination by QCAT members / OPG / PTQ staff and have been advised that the Anti-Discrimination Commission does not accept complaints against QCAT members / OPG / PTQ staff. There is no reason to believe this policy will change with the renaming.
It is a matter of fact that Australia has an absolutely shocking record of human rights abuse. This has been acknowledged by the United Nations Human Rights Council on multiple occasions, and also by numerous Australian and international human rights organizations. All watchdogs including the Commonwealth Human Rights Commission are farcical. What is even more concerning is that rather than address this issue, Australian governments resort to ever more deceptive and duplicitous measures to avoid honouring their responsibility to citizens. Whilst legislation occasionally mentions international instruments, no legislation to date has made any attempt to comply with human rights principles. With this in mind, it is not surprising that a UN Special Rapporteur told a group of advocates in September 2016 ‘Australia is the most corrupt country in the world’.
In conclusion, it is my opinion that all members of the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee, all members of parliament, and all bureaucrats involved in creation of the Human Rights Bill 2018 should hang their heads in shame for their participation in this sham which will do absolutely nothing to compel bureaucracies like the OPG and PTQ, the quasi-judicial QCAT kangaroo tribunal, or the judiciary generally to observe any semblance of human rights principles.
Edward Kelly
Common law presumes universal legal capacity.
Ratified international human rights law dictates universal legal capacity. Federal and State anti-discrimination laws dictate equal legal capacity for all people.
The present Guardianship and Administration Act dictates the universal presumption of legal capacity, no matter what the impairment might be. However the Guardianship and Administration Act and other legislation amendment bill will, if passed, create a new class of people with fewer legal rights than an “ordinary” person. Legal agency is the foundation of all human rights, yet this s most fundamental human right is about to be removed from people in Queensland with intellectual disabilities. This major reform to the Guardianship and Administration Act will effectively extinguish the act’s first general principle e, the presumption of capacity. The amendment has come about because Attorney General General’s department requested it . It is not a response to people with disabilities, their carers or the disability sector.
QCAT, the Public Trustee and the Public Guardian all routinely disregard the statutory presumption of capacity, and have always done so. This is illegal, the act says they must presume capacity. The amendments seek to authorise this illegal denial of statutory rights. Rather than reforming the system because it acts unlawfully, the law is being modified to accommodate the unlawful activity at the request of the agencies engaged in the unlawful activity . !n endorsing the Guardianship and Administration and other legislation amendment bill, the LACSC clearly did not consider the human rights inherent in common law, international law and the present GAA to be relevant.
Instead of upholding human rights, the LACSC endorsed the legislative extinguishment of human rights and the authorisation of the denial of human rights.
A Human Rights Act should be able to prevent this statutory removal of the most basic human right, but it has nothing of substance or affect.
The bill, if passed, would not protect human rights.
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