{"id":723,"date":"2014-01-22T15:34:15","date_gmt":"2014-01-22T07:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/exitinternational.net\/?p=723"},"modified":"2014-04-07T15:35:54","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T07:05:54","slug":"philip-nitschke-my-airport-detention-for-reasons-unexplained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euthanasia.net\/exit\/philip-nitschke-my-airport-detention-for-reasons-unexplained\/","title":{"rendered":"Philip Nitschke: my airport detention, for reasons unexplained"},"content":{"rendered":"

Euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke was detained and searched at Melbourne Airport yesterday and not told why. He writes for Crikey about the campaign against him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In its 2010\u201311 annual report, then-Australian Customs CEO Michael Carmody explained the agency\u2019s approach to conducting business reflected an \u201cincreasingly targeted approach\u201d. Directing \u201cour resources on high-risk people\u2026 as a part of the intelligence-led risk-based approach\u201d, Carmody stated, is what Customs and border protection is all about. The \u201cpotential impacts\u201d, he continued \u201c[i]f we do not manage our responsibilities effectively\u2026 may negatively affect the Australian community\u201d.<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t agree more.<\/p>\n

As so it was that my wife and I were selected out of the queue of departing passengers at Tullamarine on Tuesday morning for what we were informed was a \u201ccash search\u201d. Did we lie on our departure card and were really carrying in excess of $10,000 with us? And were our mobile phones stolen goods? Well, no, not to our knowledge.<\/p>\n

With a bare 15 minutes to go before boarding, we found ourselves in the detention waiting room. Don\u2019t get me wrong; Fiona and I are quite familiar with the holding pens of various countries\u2019 immigration services, such as London and Auckland. Until now, however, the Australian equivalent had escaped us. All that changed on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Into the austere interview room we went, CCTV mounted on the ceiling. The dirty carpet and grey walls were hardly a welcoming start to our long-awaited holiday. Out came the gloves of Officer Steve and into Fiona\u2019s handbag he delved. My man-bag followed soon after, along with my carry-on roller case.<\/p>\n

What section of the act allows you to go searching like this, my budding lawyer wife asked one officer. \u201cThe Customs Act,\u201d came the reply. \u201cYes, of course\u201d, continued Fiona, \u201cbut what section?\u201d. Just the act was all the information we were given.<\/p>\n

When one laptop, one iPad, one Kindle and two mobiles were neatly piled on the table\u2009\u2014\u2009the only fruit Officer Steve\u2019s search had borne\u2009\u2014\u2009off the officers went. No written notice that our possessions were being acquired. And no explanation beyond the question \u201cwere our mobiles stolen?\u201d.<\/p>\n

After a fair bit more questioning from Fiona in regards to the role her laptop and Kindle played in determining the ownership status of our phones, the officers said the other devices were being scanned for kiddie porn.<\/p>\n

As authors of the only Australian book to be banned in 35 years (The Peaceful Pill Handbook was banned on appeal by then-attorney-general Philip Ruddock in 2007), we were half expecting them to say \u201cobjectionable material\u201d. After all, that was how I was last caught out, back in 2002.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this what Australia has come to? Subversion like this should cause the Customs service to hang its head in shame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back then I was also going to the United States. But that time I was carrying with me some pieces of polypipe, which, if assembled in a certain way, could make a fairly efficient carbon monoxide generator. On that occasion I was leaving Australia to attend a right-to-die conference in San Diego; this time I was off to Mexico for a belated wedding anniversary holiday.<\/p>\n

And besides, that incident 11 years ago appeared to be a one-off. Yes, the Howard government was in power, and yes, the Customs regulations had, seemingly, been recently changed just for me, making it an offence \u201cabsolutely to export a device designed or customised to be used by a person to commit suicide\u201d (s3AA(1)) or a \u201cdocument that instructs a person how to commit suicide using one of those devices\u201d (s3AA(2)(c)).<\/p>\n

As we sat in detention this week, we couldn\u2019t help but think about the family of East Timor\u2019s Finance Minister Emilia Pires, who were detained upon entering Australia in December. They too were searched for cash, and unlike us they didn\u2019t have their phones returned. But the point seemed to be the same.<\/p>\n

Arbitrary searches are one clear means to harass. In an era where civil liberties are being increasingly eroded, the need for reasonable suspicion, let alone reasonable belief, is disappearing. If the boys in Canberra don\u2019t like you, they are all too willing to use the public service to do their dirty bidding for them.<\/p>\n

In a 2011 profile piece in The Monthly on Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, Nick Bryant described Morrison as a \u201cdevout Pentecostal\u201d. While I\u2019ve never had dealings with the man, Christianity is often a commonality among my enemies. And anyway, this directive could equally have come from any number within the Abbott cabinet\u2009\u2014\u2009not least Eric Abetz or Kevin Andrews or Tony Abbott himself\u2009\u2014\u2009all of whom have an intolerance for the message of choice that I advocate.<\/p>\n

There is lots about Tuesday\u2019s detention that irks me; I\u2019ve not space to go into it here, other than to say the ombudsman will be hearing from me.<\/p>\n

But one thing stands out. With the doors of QF93 about to close, we were handed our belongings back and told to get moving. When Fiona asked for the officers\u2019 ID numbers or names, one \u201cOfficer Raelene\u201d said she could locate the list but we would then miss our flight. Is that what we wanted? Hardly in the spirit of the act.<\/p>\n

Is this what Australia has come to? Subversion like this should cause the Customs service to hang its head in shame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Euthanasia advocate Dr Philip Nitschke was detained and searched at Melbourne Airport yesterday and not told why. He writes for Crikey about the campaign against him. In its 2010\u201311 annual report, then-Australian Customs CEO Michael Carmody explained the agency\u2019s approach to conducting business reflected an \u201cincreasingly targeted approach\u201d. Directing \u201cour resources on high-risk people\u2026 as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n