Some of the strongest criticisms have come from 'Justice Action', a justice watchdog group. The group is reported in the Sydney Morning Herald as encouraging residents not to comply with the police testing and claims that the testing will not catch the perpetrator but simply imposes an invasive new form of policing on the community. Police want to bring in this DNA data base which has really wide social implications. The testing was also criticised for reversing the burden of proof and the presumption that all persons are innocent until proven guilty. This is a movement of the onus of proof onto the public itself.
People are to feel guilty until proved innocent.
Wee Waa may seem a world away from many readers, the implications for liberty in other parts of the world should not be ignored. Australia, despite making impressive progress in the areas of economic freedom, tends to fall down shamefully on many issues of personal freedom. Australia has one of the most draconian Internet censorship laws in the world. Books and films are still censored. And each time Australia stumbles on personal liberty, big governments and the deniers of personal liberty point can Australia as an example of the 'success' of various repressions of personal liberty.