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Comment by mardifoufs | Hacker News Reader

But why is the Australian government so "police state" minded?

Is that really what the Australian people want? I'd guess they just don't care either way, but in that case why would the Australian politicians push for that? Canada has a pretty similar apathy towards politics but even then we don't see the government forcing Canadian citizens to implement backdoors or raiding the offices of a broadcaster. (Yes the recent C-36 and C-10 bills are pretty disastrous in that regard but they are very recent and face quite a bit of opposition)

It's such a peaceful country too, so the entire "hard on crime" policy does not make sense to me. Is it a partisan issue in Australia or is it something both parties agree on?

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In simple terms, Australia is a relatively young country that formed its own government in 1901. It was also isolated from the rest of the world and has a harsh environment with a lot of things that can kill you. This produced an overall culture of helping each other when you can (what gets called “mateship”), and trust in the government to help when it is needed. Australians generally like an orderly society, that translates to a publically-approved police state.

Slight nitpick: Australian colonial (State) governments existed well before the Constitution of the Commonwealth in 1901, at least since 1788.

I'm not so sure about the relevance of the so-called "harsh environment" to political culture. Although, it may be said Australians have a more deferential view of certain aspects of politics than other Western countries.

I’m well aware of the predecessor colonial governments pre-Federation. My point is that those were symbols and apparatus of British imposed rule, and it is relatively recent that the notion of an “Australian government”, as its own national sovereignty, came about. Specifically since the change in national identity had a direct impact on the government no longer being looked at as “the ruling class”.

Don't forget our geography either! We're in fairly close proximity, physically and politically, with authoritarian Asian states like Singapore, Malaysia and China.

> Is it a partisan issue in Australia or is it something both parties agree on?

They've been boiling the frog since 9/11. All anybody has to say is "national security" and the opposition party pretty much folds. Imagine the US without the Bill of Rights - that's the landscape.

Seeing as Australia was used as a prison colony, I'd have thought they'd be much more likely to be against a strong ruling class.

In the same way that you would expect most people in the US to adhere to puritan Calvinist beliefs?

Yeah, because a country with over 100 years of post-invasion history would base its worldview purely on the one fact most Americans know about it.

Propaganda works, Rupert Murdoch has known it for decades. Keep the people scared and they won't question what you are doing.

This is so true. And something sadly I don't think enough Australians are aware of.

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