Senator Cooney's address Mr John Fahey and Mr Bob Carr are fighting the New South Wales election due to be determined next Saturday on the proposition that society wants to lock away for ever those it would be rid of. Both leaders are intent on that strategy. They would imprison men and women for decades in close to arbitrary fashion. 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.