Huge fence around Parliament is OK: Scullion

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2477 Fence 1 OKBy ERWIN CHLANDA
 
NT CLP Senator Nigel Scullion has no problem with massive fences being built around Parliament House in Canberra.
 
He disagrees with Andrew Catsaras, who provides online “independent analysis and observations of Australian politics,” quoting Prime Minister Turnbull as saying in Parliament in November 2015: “The terrorists want us to bend to their will, to be frightened, to change the way we go about our lives, to abandon our values.
 
“If we do that, they win and they will not win, we will not let them win.”
 
So much for not letting the terrorists win, says Mr Catsaras.
 
“Why just stop at a wall? Why not rebuild all of Parliament House underground like Winston Churchill’s War Cabinet bunker.”
 
But Senator Scullion says: “The decision to erect the eastern and western building perimeter security fence was made on the basis of a targeted security review of the Australian Parliament House security arrangements, commissioned by the presiding officers, in light of the increased national terrorism threat level in Australia.
 
2477 Churchill's bunker“The review recommended a series of additional internal and external security measures which were agreed to by the Parliament.
 
“I support the measures if it means keeping the thousands of people that visit and work at Parliament House every day safe and secure,” says Senator Scullion.
 
“All Australians should get the chance to visit their Parliament House – it is after all the peoples house – but they rightfully expect to feel safe and are entitled to be kept safe when they visit.”
 
 
 

6 COMMENTS

  1. But we also expect to be safe at our workplaces, the schools our children go to and the places like to frequent, and these places do not have a legion of Federal police at their beck and call.
    Nige, it is pretty obvious if terrorists want to attck us or our way of life it would be done on soft targets, such as shopping centres, Australia Day parades etc. not places that are already protected by pretty high tech security measures.
    All a fence will do is signal to Australians that our pollies are even more insulated from the real world people that vote them in. These type of fences are a way of admitting defeat, and showing it in grand style.

  2. Stop being stooges for the US’s terror-inspired designs for global hegemony, and the threat of terrorist attacks will diminish accordingly.

  3. They want to be cut off from us, feel safe but do not care for us, so we should cut them off next elections.
    Parliament House is the heart of Australian parliamentary democracy, and one of the most open parliamentary buildings in the world.
    Parliament House was designed to encourage public access and involvement. It was designed to be both a functional building and a major national symbol. It is “the people’s house”.
    Nick O’Brien, a former British counter-terrorism policeman now at Charles Sturt University, said fencing off the slopes around Parliament seemed to be “more about stopping civil protests than terrorism”.
    He is a graduate of the international Leadership in Counter Terrorism (LinCT) program and is currently a member of the LinCT Training Committee.
    John Coyne, a former federal policeman now with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said fencing off the slopes was “a bit strange”.
    Dr Coyne is the head of the Border Security Program at ASPI.
    ASPI is an independent, non-partisan think tank that produces expert and timely advice for Australia’s strategic and defence leaders..
    While stressing the Australian Federal Police and ASIO may have identified specific intelligence that warranted fences, he said it was “very difficult to see a clear cause and effect”.
    The people have the right to know [1] what the treads are; [2] what other methods for achieving security outcomes had been comprehensively canvassed.

  4. Nigel, It would eventually have to happen any way with the world terror situation eg. ISIS, North Korea, Taliban etc. So build it.
    It is a shame to have to close in the magnificent lawns and patios but after a vehicle attack and the “rent a crowd” demonstration on the roof it is now necessary.
    No different to protecting the White House or British Houses of Parliament.

  5. A bit of Parliament house Canberra historical trivia that seems to have sunk without trace was the lone voice of ’92 protest by SA farmer Cliffy.
    The lad was upset with government taxes on his property so he drove up the highway, around Parliament House protesting. Then thought bugger it, he would grab the pollies’ attention and drove straight in through the front door.
    Smashed his way into the Great Hall where the old Toyota stalled and conked out.
    Cliffy got out and stood surveying the scene with satisfaction as cops and security scrambled for cover flat on their tummies and snipers on the staircase aimed the red dot at Cliffy’s belly button.
    Cliffy got marched off to the civic watchhouse, got a belting in the cell and had the book thrown at him for catching them all with their pants down.
    Plus he got a jail term. While on bail and after he did time he was harrassed by the coppers 24/7 at his place of abode Barton Hotel.
    They found a rusted old .22 rifle in the boot of his four wheel drive which they tried to stitch him up, claiming it was a terror weapon.
    I had the good fortune to know Cliffy and enjoyed his company for a period of several months while he lived in Canberra.
    As Cliffy told me, he had forgotten he had the rusty old .22 in the boot, a single shot old relic that he used to shoot rabbits in the old days.
    He had a sad story to tell about government corruption and I liked him a lot. A good honest bloke who showed today’s soft uni campus snowflakes what a fair dinkum protest is and how to put it all on the line for his principles.

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