The abuse of arbitrary power corrodes the quality of any community. Criminals misuse such power when they murder, rape, maim, steal and blackmail. Monopolies do so when they ply their trade in defiance of consumer rights. Contractors follow that course when they oppress their workers. So do parents when they violate their children.
Partners do likewise when they excoriate each other on parting.
Governments abuse arbitrary power when they jail a class of people indifferent to the particular circumstances of each of its members. What happens to law enforcement in New South Wales may in the future spread to other States and the Commonwealth. A statute made in Macquarie Street taking away a court's capacity to judge people on their merits may come to taint criminal justice throughout Australia. We need all address the issue. From what Mr Fahey and Mr Carr have proposed, the courts will be allowed to answer the first question only.