Civil liberties eroded

Julian Burnside thinks Australians should reflect on the erosion of civil liberties in 1930s Nazi Germany to see where Australia is headed:

Civil liberties in Australia today are being significantly eroded. The erosion has been justified on pragmatic grounds: executive detention to deter asylum seekers; increased wire-tapping to combat crime; incommunicado detention and interrogation of people not suspected of any offence, but thought to have information about others. The erosion is accepted by the majority of citizens for a variety of reasons.

One is that these things get much less coverage in the media than their significance demands and, when they are covered in the media, they are tacitly approved (or only faintly disapproved) by most commentators. Those more vocal in their criticism of these things (such as me) find it difficult to have their dissenting views published; and when they are published they are likely to be distorted and disparaged.

So, not only are we sliding down the slippery slope, we don't want to be told. Perhaps if Burnside didn't start off with crap like, "I'm not saying Howard is Hitler but ...", I'd be prepared to listen.