Australia's history of banning political organisations has been called into question as the government introduces new hate laws. Professor Anne Twomey, a constitutional law expert from the University of Sydney, has highlighted past attempts that she argues were neither wise nor necessary.
During World War I, the Unlawful Associations Act 1916 was used to ban the Industrial Workers of the World, with 103 members imprisoned and some deported to Chile despite no connection to the country. In 1940, the Menzies government banned the Communist Party under defence regulations, a move that was lifted in 1942 after the Soviet Union became an ally. The ban on the Adelaide Company of Jehovah's Witnesses was struck down by the High Court, with Justice Starke calling the regulations 'arbitrary, capricious and oppressive'.
In 1950, another attempt to dissolve the Communist Party was also deemed invalid by the High Court, which ruled that the defence power did not extend to such actions during peacetime, even with Australia's involvement in the Korean War. Justice Dixon noted that only 'the supreme emergency of war itself' could justify such restrictions on civil liberties.
The current proposed laws aim to ban organisations that engage in or advocate hate crimes, even if the conduct was not illegal at the time. The minister can declare a group prohibited without requiring a conviction or observing procedural fairness. Professor Twomey warns that history suggests such laws have potential for abuse and should be carefully considered.
