Once
upon a time in Australia the government of the day initiated general legislation
and the bureaucracy worked out the details and created structures for
implementation – ask any of the really old hands around Canberra. Things stared
to change after Whitlam was elected and gradually governments took over the
minutia – today this is done in the offices of the supporters of Howard –
Ruddock, Minchin, Downer, Abbott being the leaders. Howard signs off after he
makes his own amendments.

So it
was with the draconian terrorism measures announced last week. One insider
revealed to Crikey that Howard firmly believes in Hitler’s “salami technique” – give them one
slice at a time, each new slice being more horrendous than the last. This seems
to be the reason why Australia’s Muslim community is living in fear of what
might come next. Will they be forced, as Jews were under Hitler to wear identifying logos, to wear say a half
crescent identification? The racial
outbursts of Mesdames Panopolous and Bishop about Muslim women and headscarves,
limply brushed aside by John Howard but applauded by red neck Australia –
Howard’s principal constituency – bodes no good for future tolerance of Muslim
Australians. It seems, according to the same insider, that Australians generally
will need to watch what they say to whom – unless the States step in and change
things. It seems unlikely the current
brood of premiers and chief ministers would go along with a 14 days detention
period without charge or any other of
the Howard brand of “new democracy.”