Ruddock on the Terrorism `Threat'

It will be a few hours before ABC puts the transcripts and MP3s for today's episode of PM online, but it's been a cracker. And so it should be. What a day of government skullduggery. No wonder my blog's been running hot.

Phillip Ruddock's interview with PM on the imminent terrorism threat has to be heard to be believed. What a masterpiece of Ruddockian evasion. In it, Ruddock admits that the threat `feasible and could well occur', and that this has been known at least since the beginning of the week. Nothing more, nothing less. Nothing about a new threat, an old threat, an ongoing threat. Nothing.

WELL DUH. A terrorism attack `is feasible and could well occur' today, tomorrow, yesterday, or next week.

The change in definition of a terrorist attack that the amendment to the legislation enacts is being painted as a teeny weeny little adjustment, yet to think about it, it's quite significant. Prosecutions can now result from people planning not `the terrorist attack' but `a terrorist attack'. It sounds like a minor thing. But consider the difference here: `It is illegal to protest outside the house'. `The cat' implies a particular cat. In any legal document, `the' would be clearly defined (e.g. `the defendent', `the complainant' or what have you). Now - `It is illegal to protest outside a house'. The meaning changes entirely. `A house' implies ANY and ALL houses.

Meanwhile on the IR front, journos and MPs are ploughing through the 700-odd pages of legislation. Ten Opposition MPs - Member for Banks Daryl Melham and Member for Graydler Anthony Albanese were two names I picked up - had a little extra precious time to flick through, having been ejected from the chamber for intemperate comments over the laws. The latest rumour is that individuals will be fined for revealing details of other peoples' AWAs to a third party. No anti-union measures there, then ... Kevin Andrews' interview with PM is also well worth listening to, if you have the stomach for it.

Update: I've now linked to all the appropriate PM transcripts.