Contexts in which the word subversion was used in the Senate during the 1970s

• Malaysia and Thailand, Burma, and Ceylon have still to contend with insurgency and subversion. [More…]

• If the Government is interested in economic subversion, why have the names of these companies not been published? [More…]

• Subversion is a very difficult concept and, frankly, I think that it needs to be defined pretty careully. [More…]

• It has been said in a number of places, editorially in particular, that this definition of subversion is inherently unsatisfactory; that it is so broad that it could be applied to virtually any demonstration or protest march in Australia. [More…]

• I have spoken to the three amendments because they related to the definition of subversion but I have not formally moved the amendment to clause 5(1) (c). [More…]

• They face internal subversion. [More…]

• We as a Government have made it quite clear that our forces are not to be committed in cases of internal subversion or civil war. [More…]

• They will be available only in the case of external attack or when, in the opinion of the Government, there is a threat of external subversion. [More…]

• It is essential that Thailand, which is under threat and which for a considerable time has been suffering from the effects of subversion from inside and outside, should be confident that should a situation arise in which it is unable to handle an attack from outside its borders, forces will be available to defend ils territorial integrity. [More…]

• It is very difficult for a nation such as ours, with a population which is a great deal less than that of many nations in our area, to seek to integrate with the countries of South East Asia, to have an influence on those countries as to the way in which they should progress and to attempt to exert an influence for good in the area - whether it be an attempt at raising living standards, at encouraging the development of the country, at encouraging the stability of the government or at dissuading subversion which, in our area of the world, is one of the problems which we have faced since the Second World War. [More…]

• We shall seek to persuade the Communists to give up their attempts of force and subversion. [More…]

• For some years after the close of that war, resolute action was taken to resist and defeat subversion in Malava. [More…]

• I think we should realise that subversion will continue to be a fact of life. [More…]

• The Communist powers extend the national interest by all means at their disposal by internal subversion, limited wars, nuclear blackmail, armed intervention and the creation of subversive elements inside the countries they wish to reduce. [More…]

• We have in this country people whom I believe would be the progenators of subversion in Australia should it ever be attacked. [More…]

• Give moral support to the North Vietnamese to persist in their aggression and subversion in South Vietnam; [More…]

• But because there has been no formal declaration of war identifying any other country as one of the Queen’s enemies, or because there has been no proclamation of that country to invoke the relevant sections of the Crimes Act, they simply rely, intransigeantly and presumptuously, upon our right of free speech to propagate a campaign that is, in substance and in fact, a subversion of the whole national effort that is being spearheaded by our armed forces in Vietnam. [More…]

• They did not speak in subversion of their own armies when those armies were in conflict with the enemy. [More…]

• We are endeavouring to prevent the Australian Labor Party making a contribution to the subversion of support for our troops who are now actively engaging the enemy. [More…]

• Give moral support to the North Vietnamese to persist in their aggression and subversion in South Vietnam. [More…]

• give moral support to the North Vietnamese to persist in their aggression and subversion in South Vietnam; [More…]

• Give moral support to the North Vietnamese to persist in their aggression and subversion in South Vietnam; [More…]

• Give moral support to the North Vietnamese to persist in their aggression and subversion in South Vietnam. [More…]

• Senator Webster stated that Senator Cavanagh and those who supported his viewpoint were guilty of subversion. [More…]

• If that is so, according to Senator Webster I am guilty of subversion. [More…]

• If it were subversion and a crime it would be within the power of one of his own Ministers to take action. [More…]

• I refuse to take offence when Senator Webster uses against me the term subversion’. [More…]

• Anybody who subverts those armed forces is a traitor and is guilty of treachery and subversion of the most abhorrent kind, not only in the eyes of the men whose duly it is to hold the line tonight, not only in the eyes of their relatives, but also in the eyes of every decent Australian. [More…]

• Honourable senators opposite have accused us of subversion through guilt by association. [More…]

• They realise that they stand in the path of subversion and aggression from the north - not the mass aggression of great armies, but the insidious aggression of economic and physical subversion. [More…]

• They say without equivocation that if Communism is not contained on the Indo-Chinese peninsula but breaks through into Thailand - there is already subversion on the Thai-Malay border - then almost immediately the sub-, version will be into Malaya and Malaysia. [More…]

• They know that, because of the communal problem that they have and because of a certain inbuilt communal instability due to racial differences, they are quite vulnerable to that type of subversion. [More…]

• The Indonesians find that in their country there is an instability which creates a tremendous vulnerability to this process of subversion from the north. [More…]

• The situation is that these people have engaged in lawful activities, and if they are going to be charged with subversion because they were associated with the Moratorium in Queensland then I stand alongside them and say that I associated myself with the Moratorium in Queensland. [More…]

• I challenge any senator on the Government benches to charge me with subversion. [More…]

• It is an attack upon the fundamental basis of representative democracy for an honourable senator to be accused, under privilege in a State Parliament, of subversion and disloyalty for engaging in legitimate political activities. [More…]

• In any man’s terms that is an allegation against the Leader of the Opposition of subversion and of treachery. [More…]

• He can be accused of being a liar, of being treacherous or of anything you like, but it is a perversion of the rules and proceedings of this Senate for the Minister, in answer to a question when there can be no opportunity for anyone else to deal with it, to accuse the Leader of the Opposition who is not here of subversion and of treachery. [More…]

• In unmistakable terms he was reflecting upon the Leader of the Opposition and imputing to him motives of treason, treachery and subversion which are improper motives. [More…]

• It is broadcasting hostile propaganda calling for revolution and is encouraging subversion and insurgency in Malaysia and Indonesia. [More…]

• His submission in this respect was a plain subversion of the very terms of the Charter of the United Nations. [More…]

• The new division will be concerned with providing information about external danger and internal subversion, but its total role will be much wider. [More…]

• I ask the Minister: Will he detail the matters additional to external danger and internal subversion with which his spies are concerned? [More…]

• Mr Johnson said the new division would be concerned with providing information about external danger and internal subversion, but its total role would be much wider. [More…]

• Mr Johnson said the services would have ‘a role of assisting the Government to ensure the safety of the country and the protection of the people by providing information about external dangers and internal subversion’. [More…]

• I cannot attribute to a particular leader what I am about to say., but there was a consensus that those countries were extraordinarily vulnerable to subversion from the north, for different reasons. [More…]

• In South East Asia, Australia has been identified with the policy that if we can support the economies and maintain and improve the social stability of the areas to which I have referred and of those countries further north, such as Thailand, Cambodia and South Vietnam, that in itself will call a halt to the processes of infiltration and subversion and, in more general terms, will provide containment - not aggressive containment but defensive containment - of those who otherwise would burst through and rob nations of their liberty. [More…]

• When Senator Wheeldon tries to equate the votes of Singapore and Malaysia in the United Nations to the fact that they really do not fear subversion inspired from the People’s Republic of China, I wish to say to him only that perhaps he should go and speak to the leaders of the countries of South East Asia - and go with his ears open, his eyes open and his mind open - because he will find that each of those countries expressed grave concern at the continued subversion, the continued terrorism being practised in their territory by Communist terrorists. [More…]

• Senator Byrne stated that the countries to our north with whom we have substantial friendly and defensive arrangements are conscious of the danger of subversion from outside and require time to strengthen their defences and security. [More…]

• Knowing the Soviet’s history of aggression and subversion, no Australian can possibly welcome the arrival in our own waters of representatives of that power. [More…]

• In my opinion, that is sufficient to call attention to the fact that in regard to offences under military law - whatever may be the merit for repealing the death sentence under civil law - the repeal of the death penalty would cause a subversion of the strength of the armed forces. [More…]

• Having regard to our treaty obligations to the United States, the statements attributed to Dr Cairns can be regarded only as a deplorable subversion of the united interests of Australia and the United States in the Pacific. [More…]

• In South East Asia the impact of subversion and insurgency has been restricted by massive sacrifices of men and material on the part of many countries - not least the states of Indo-China under attack from North Vietnam. [More…]

• But the elimination of both subversion and insurgency continues to demand, in at least 6 countries, very great efforts on the part of the governments concerned. [More…]

• I am not looking for subversion under every bed or at every desk. [More…]

• Early in his speech he indicated that he did not like the organisation called Peace for Freedom because most of his policies and the policies of his Party are directed towards peace, or rather the absence of struggle, against communist subversion or aggression. [More…]

• One of the odd things about this whole proposition is that honourable senators opposite fail to see communist subversion where it exists; they fail to Observe a civil disorder; they encourage and incite riots, industrial disputes and disturbances, and they are completely unaffected. [More…]

• Of course, anyone is accused of being in the right wing if he wears a collar and a tie, or if he fails to pull the forelock to left wing subversion. [More…]

• Most of the matters mentioned in the newspaper refer to defence, foreign policy, the influence of communist subversion in Australia, the Vietnam war - all matters which are good solid points of Liberal Party policy. [More…]

• It is typical of the Communist subversion and the Communist methods of imposition and intimidation that the persons who have now established themselves in this country are subjected to the unsolicited type of material to which Senator McManus has drawn our attention. [More…]

• Gallup Polls have shown that the community wants its standards upheld against the advocates of porn and moral subversion, whose propaganda undermines the roots of ordered freedom by the pollution of the people, and those in power would do well to give more heed to real public opinion than to mass media writers who do not reflect it. [More…]

• I therefore now ask the Minister: Firstly, is not this revelation a full confirmation of consistent Federal Government warnings over a number of years on the nature and dangers of industrial lawlessness and communist subversion? [More…]

• I heard the leaders of the Liberal Party on platforms throughout the country say to the people of Australia that inside the trade union movement of Australia there is Communist subversion, Communist intimi dation and Communist violence and that unless we do something about it we will suffer damage and violence in this country. [More…]

• When, in fact, 2 royal commissions found that there were training camps of the Communist Party in Australia training for subversion and that there was a training camp at Minto involving the Communist Party and Communist subversion, the ALP sought to deny these things. [More…]

• It seems to be all right if, inside Australia, we can train people in international Communist subversion and can send Communists overseas to subvert and pervert. [More…]

• The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT - The motion that we are debating this afternoon is both particularised and generalised as to terrorism and subversion and the general security of Australia. [More…]

• We should be concerned with all acts of terrorism and all acts of subversion in Australia which include a great number of groups including Australian. [More…]

• In view of the wrangle that Senator Hannan engaged in, I said rightly: Is it not a logical conclusion - this has been the motivation of the Government’s original diplomatic ties with Yugoslavia - that if an infinitesimal minority of the Yugoslav community has its way and becomes linked with some subversion in Yugoslavia and a fragmentation develops then Rijeka and all these other Adriatic ocean ports could be made available to the Red fleet and it is quite possible that the power balance between NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries will be distorted. [More…]

• President Marcos stated that Martial Law had been proclaimed in accordance with the powers vested in the President under Article 7, Section 10, paragraph 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines as the Republic was threatened by communist insurgency and subversion. [More…]

• I suppose the Opposition will probably ask about subversion. [More…]

• I wonder whether honourable senators opposite have read the writings of Sir William Thompson, who was regarded as being a leading British expert on internal subversion. [More…]

• He quietly told the Prime Minister that he - the Prime Minister - did not understand the situation of subversion which takes place in those countries. [More…]

• They are regarded not only by Singapore but also by Malaysia and Indonesia - all of which would have been concerned if they objected to the presence of these troops - as a stabilising force and as a protection against the prospect of guerrilla subversion. [More…]

• This is accompanied by the internal subversion of ASIO by people who are entrusted with its preservation. [More…]

• So long as we have that right we shall probe questions of high national importance, such as a very important move for the subversion of ASIO at a time when that organisation had a particular duty not to have its attention diverted from surveillance of the Yugoslav praetorian guard in association with any other Yugoslav Government representatives who may have been here. [More…]

• This body, ASIO, did a first class job for Australia and for the free world because by securing the defection of Petrov it revealed for the free world a volume of information concerning Russian espionage and subversion throughout the free world that enabled very important preventive and defensive steps to be taken. [More…]

• Its job is to collect information on sabotage, espionage and subversion. [More…]

• We are seeing a weakening of our defence capability because if government has a primary obligation it is to maintain the society, the nation, the civilisation, secure from external attack and secure from internal subversion. [More…]

• What we are seeing today is internally and externally a weakening not only of the people’s resolve but of the Government’s ability to defend the nation from attack or subversion. [More…]

• May I say that during that debate in 1956 Mr McMahon, who was then the Minister for Primary Industry, said that the Security Service had a charter to deal only with certain specific responsibilities, such as sabotage, subversion or espionage. [More…]

• There is obviously a need to obtain information about planned sabotage, espionage and subversion and to detect the persons and organisations engaged in such activities. [More…]

• Subversion has also occurred and it is constantly a challenge not only to our intelligence body but also to the police forces of the States, and it is a pity that it is not a greater concern to the people at large. [More…]

• Without going into details about the work of a parliamentary committee of which I am a member, I point out that Mr Darby, a New South Wales Government MLA, has written a book on the back page of which he makes out a case, which he is fully entitled to do, about subversion in the community at large, and he goes on to say that many people have not had the benefit of British tradition. [More…]

• Subversion from the Left or the Right can come internally. [More…]

• If there is subversion in a country the obligation is on it to put down the subversion itself. [More…]

• Indonesia put down subversion without American or Australian troops. [More…]

• When one speaks to diplomats from South East Asia one is told that it is not a question of invasion at the moment; the question today is subversion. [More…]

• Yet this Bill comes forward as a direct subversion firstly of the Constitution which as a general rule requires that property expropriated for public purposes be compensated for on just terms. [More…]

• If he is an honest broker, not for China, as he is reported to have said, but for Australia he should have gone to China and said: ‘It is pre-eminently in the interests of the people of this region and the world that South East Asia should be stable; that countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Burma should have the right to separate sovereignty and separate existence and not have the fear that by subversion, by the inducing of liberation fronts, that they can be destroyed; that we as their good neighbours respect their right to co-exist. ‘ [More…]

• It was done by force, violence, subversion and the normal method of communist activity. [More…]

• If this had been a communist show dealing in subversion, treachery and all that is vile, they would have ignored it. [More…]

• In view of the long record of the Chinese Government in providing moral and material support, including the use of its territory for broadcasting facilities in support of armed subversion in South East Asia and elsewhere in disregard of these principles, did the Prime Minister seek and receive an assurance from the Chinese Government that this form of interference in the internal affairs of other countries would cease? [More…]

• If the situation is reached where only the nucleus of a committee or a board of reference has security of tenure, and there are two persons sitting on each side of him- one may be in a particular section of the industry under reference and the other in a different interest, sectional withal in the same industry- the Government may be creating the shifting sands of subversion of the independence of this Commission. [More…]

• We have seen the power of the present Federal Government being directed to the subversion of the States. [More…]

• In the Indian Ocean north of Australia we have the testimony of the South-East Asian countries that there is a grave danger today of insurgency, a grave danger of subversion. [More…]

• A Thai diplomat told me that when one of his own country’s principal ministers went to Peking to discuss with the Chinese the insurgency and subversion movement on their borders which is supported and financed by China, he asked Chou En-lai whether China would agree to stop interfering in his country’s affairs. [More…]

• In every one of those South-East Asian countries today there is a Communist sponsored guerrilla organisation which seeks subversion and which, in doing so, is a threat to the future of this country. [More…]

• If a committee were set up in this case members from both sides of the Parliament could look at the proposition to see whether there would be a subversion of our Constitution if extra senators were brought in. [More…]

• I believe that this legislation is the first step towards the subversion of the Senate as a States House. [More…]

• But in view of the comments made by Senator Webster it is necessary for me, I think to make one or two remarks which indicate that the subversion in this Parliament lies in the Opposition. [More…]

• In fact, there is a well organised campaign of subversion going on in Australia, and it is being organised by the people whom Senator Webster represents in this place. [More…]

• The fact is that is where the subversion lies. [More…]

• That, whether it is right or wrong, is a natural desire and it is not to be labelled subversion. [More…]

• I see the adding of extra honourable senators to this place as a subversion of the role of the Senate. [More…]

• I listened in vain for some argument designed to show that what was considered a progressive, sensible and moderate suggestion, as indeed it had to be, coming from a Committee of that composition, has suddenly become a proposition of fire-eating radicals with a sinister connotation of the subversion of democracy. [More…]

• In 1962 Indian and Canadian members of the International Control Commission reported to the joint chairmen of the Geneva Agreement- the United Kingdom and the U.S.S.R.- that North Vietnam was guilty of acts of aggression and subversion against South Vietnam. [More…]

• As everybody knows, depressed economic conditions provide fertile ground for political instability and outright subversion. [More…]

• I believe that he was not prepared to do so because he knows that the allegations that Mr Wechsler was paid by ASIO was in fact the truth and that ASIO was concerned to know what was happening in the organisations referred to because ASIO believed it was in the national interest and part of its charter to protect Australia from sabotage, espionage and subversion that it should know what was happening in those organisations. [More…]

• The Australian Government is prepared to support clandestine organisations engaged in subversion against the Chilean Government. [More…]

• -Given enough time I can produce authority to indicate that the subversion- ‘subversion’ is a word that Senator Greenwood is very fond of- of the legally elected government of Chile was assisted and advanced by the CIA and by some rather sinister forces in American society. [More…]

• If they are a refutation of our proposition applied to 1975 figures, they are a complete subversion of the 1972 figures upon which the Minister is attempting to construct a scheme applicable to 1975 on a 1972 basis. [More…]

• It is true to say that by the adroit use of their money and power and their connections in high places; … by their lavish hospitality; by favours shown in the right places; by playing off one State Premier, anxious for ‘development’, against another; by what has been called the ‘subversion of the elites’ (the managerial and professional classes, the bankers and financiers) by sharing out some of the ‘goodies’, (the directorates, the local consultancies and minority shareholdings); by contributions to party funds; and (let’s face it) by thinking big and applying their undoubted managerial, technical and marketing skills- by these and many other means the MNCs - the multinational companies- can and do attain not only economic dominance, but very great political influence as well. [More…]

• It is well known that not only are they watching their own diplomats, whom they do not trust, but also they are engaged in subversion and espionage in Australia. [More…]

• The purpose of a security organisation is to protect the nation from espionage, sabotage and subversion. [More…]

• I repeat that they were actions of duplicity, evasion, deceit and subversion. [More…]

• I ask the Minister: Will he be reminded that the PLO’s avowed policy is the subversion of Israel, if necessary by terrorism? [More…]

• In the course of exercising those responsibilities he must give concern and attention to ensuring the nation’s independence, and to protecting it from subversion, inside and outside. [More…]

• Yet the evidence coming out now clearly is that 2 generals in particular in Indonesia, General Murtopo and Lieutenant-General Murdani set about, in the process of subversion, to undermine the independence movement. [More…]

• The propaganda that has emanated from Jakarta and Kupang has tried to present to the world at large, to the people of this country and to the 2 governments which have been in office here a position suggesting that there was some possibility of communist subversion in East Timor. [More…]

• I am not aware whether the Commission is using that strategy at the moment or whether it is some kind of subversion with regard to the ratings of commercial stations. [More…]

• There is very real danger of attempts at subversion from outside the colony. [More…]

• So we cannot confine potential subversion to people who have strong political convictions, although that is sometimes the reason. [More…]

• To go further, it is equally permissible to dissent from the system of Government itself and to try to change that by persuading a majority of the people that it should be changed; but here it is important to distinguish between dissent and subversion. [More…]

• it might be useful to take as a point of departure the familiar proposition that the distinction between dissent and subversion lies in the dividing line between the use and the abuse of the instruments of democracy. [More…]

• They were asked to submit a major subversion of the Constitution to a judicial inquiry but they preferred to try to push Supply through and retain government. [More…]

• My colleague Senator Brown referred to the case of a chap who, several years ago, was obsessed with the thought that he could see subversion and who, we found out, was on a commission from ASIO. [More…]

• I would like to see it use its inherent power to protect itself against internal subversion. [More…]

• I characterise these sorts of tax avoidance industry schemes as no less than a sort of internal subversion that is directed at the necessary revenues of government. [More…]

• He was brought before an extraordinary special military court (Mahmilub) in 1968 on charges of subversion. [More…]

• It should be noted that, in accordance with the recommendations of the royal commission, the definition of ‘security’ in the present Act has been expanded to include not only espionage, sabotage and subversion but also active measures of foreign intervention- meaning clandestine or deceptive action taken by a foreign power to promote the interests of that powerand terrorism. [More…]

• The Soviet Government’s case against Shcharansky was unusual because it involved alleged United States subversion and espionage and because it led to President Carter’s flat denial that Shcharansky had ever worked for US Intelligence. [More…]

• the redefinition of the concept of ‘security’, and in particular the element of ‘subversion’, in order to narrow its scope and limit the possibility of its mis-application; [More…]

• For the purpose of this analysis it might be useful to take as a point of departure the familiar proposition that the distinction between dissent and subversion lies in the dividing line between the use and the abuse of the instruments of democracy. [More…]

• Of course, part of the crucial element in this legislation is the definition provided for terms such as ‘subversion ‘. [More…]

• These definitions which are to be found not only in the ordinary definitional part of the Bill but also in particular in clause 5 of the Bill which defines the meaning of subversion when not of foreign origin, are matters that have to be given very careful consideration, particularly in the Committee stage. [More…]

• I think it is important to understand that there will be a genuine public debate on what constitutes subversion and acts of terrorism short of the overt use of violence, activities prejudicial to security or active measures of foreign intervention. [More…]

• At present we see the definition of security, and in particular the definition of that element of security described as subversion, as wide enough to encompass certain presently quite legal forms of industrial action, namely those affecting perhaps only indirectly aspects of the operation of the defence forces. [More…]

• We also see the definition of subversion as wide enough to encompass, certainly on its face, forms of political activity falling far short of anything to do with promoting or engaging in violence. [More…]

• We believe that the concept of subversion and the definition of security as a whole, of which it is part, should be redefined, narrowed and made much more precise so that the concept of subversion would be linked quite explicitly and directly to that of violence. [More…]

• If it is not, we suggest, in this way the concept of subversion and with it the whole concept of security on which the Bill turns will be completely open-ended and uncontrollable. [More…]

• The royal commissioner perceived the threats to internal security of the nation as including: The activities in Australia of foreign espionage agents and their attempts to obtain local agents of influence; the dissemination of disinformation; sabotage; terrorism and subversion. [More…]

• He concluded: ‘By its very nature, subversion is clandestine and deceptive’, against which, he said, ‘ordinary police methods’ were not sufficient. [More…]

• It is denned as the protection of the people from espionage, sabotage, subversion, active measures of foreign intervention or terrorism whether directed from or committed within Australia. [More…]

• In clause 5(1) domestic subversion is defined in paragraph (c) as: . [More…]

• A literal interpretation of that definition of domestic subversion could well involve members of Parliament. [More…]

• For example, in clause 5 ( 1 ) (b) of the legislation, subversion as distinct from terrorism or violent acts is denned as: activities directed to obstructing, hindering or interfering with the carrying out of activities by or for the Commonwealth for the purposes of security . [More…]

• Earlier in the Bill ‘security’ is denned as protection from espionage, sabotage, subversion, active measures of violent intervention or terrorism. [More…]

• The definition of ‘subversion’ is crucial. [More…]

• For example, in the terms in which ‘subversion’ is currently defined, the Bill could well be used against people who are opposed to uranium mining. [More…]

• If an anti-uranium rnining group were to obstruct the activities of a mining company which had an agreement with or was in partnership with the Commonwealth Government, those activities would come under the definition of ‘subversion’. [More…]

• In clause 5(1) (c) of the Bill we find that subversion can be: activities directed to promoting violence or hostility between different groups of persons in the Australian community so as to endanger the peace, order or good government of the Commonwealth. [More…]

• I suggest that that definition goes well beyond the bounds of what has come to be regarded as subversion. [More…]

• In the Committee stage of the debate we will be asking for a precise and proper definition of ‘subversion’ which will cover truly dangerous activities but which will exclude the possibility of this legislation being used against groups of people who are expressing a non-conformist or minority view. [More…]

• In the 1960s ASIO regarded as subversion virtually any political activity which took place outside the arena of the main political parties and even some activities which took place within them, as the South Australian Salisbury affair demonstrated. [More…]

• In the next few pages of his fourth report, Mr Justice Hope went on to say much about espionage, subversion, sabotage, et cetera. [More…]

• Mr Justice Hope discusses at some length the ASIO situation and describes at some length subversion, sabotage, terrorism, security needs, disinformation, and other matters. [More…]

• It is required by statute to carry out certain intelligence and advisory functions for the protection of the Commonwealth from acts of espionage, sabotage and subversion. [More…]

• Mr Justice Hope spoke of subversion in his report and stated: [More…]

• Subversion is difficult to define but is nonetheless a very real, and maybe a very dangerous form of activity. [More…]

• As with subversion, terrorism is difficult to define precisely. [More…]

• Subversion. [More…]

• Domestic activity related to violence and subversion abroad. [More…]

• the redefinition of the concept of ‘security’, and in particular the element of ‘subversion’, in order to narrow its scope and limit the possibility of its mis-application; [More…]

• On every occasion that an organisation was studied for subversion, it was found that that organisation got more work out of the CIA agents than from anyone else. [More…]

• For the purposes of this Act, the activities of persons, other than activities of foreign origin or activities directed against a foreign government, that are to be regarded as subversion are - [More…]

• I ask honourable senators to listen to our domestic subversion- [More…]

• I do not know what ‘overthrowing’ applies to, but surely every political speech containing the emotion shown in 1975 and possibly 1977 and other years could well bring the accusation of subversion. [More…]

• I wonder how much of the agitation against Sir John Kerr in 1975- he was hounded and cried down at universities and at various demonstrations in Australia- was contributed to by the subversion of Labor Party members because of their description of Sir John Kerr’s dismissal of a lawfully, democratically elected government? [More…]

• They are the kinds of activities that active persons with a social conscience and a vision of a better Australia are entitled to be involved in without the brand of suspected subversion . [More…]

• Subversion is defined in this Bill in such a wide way as to place everybody in that category. [More…]

• It is convenient to do so because they all relate to the definition of ‘subversion’. [More…]

• For the purposes of this Act, the activities of persons, other than activities of foreign origin or activities directed against a foreign government, that are to be regarded as subversion are- [More…]

• The clause then sets out the matters which are to be regarded as subversion. [More…]

• The first matter with which we take issue appears in clause 5 ( 1 ) (a), where the types of activities which are to be regarded as subversion include: activities that involve, will involve or lead to, or are intended or likely ultimately to involve or lead to, the use of force or violence - [More…]

• For the purposes of this clause the activities which can be regarded as subversion constitute in a sense an offence against this seciton; that is to say, they constitute an activity and the inclusion of the word ‘ultimately’ in sub-clause (a) of clause 5(1) really adds nothing to the definition or precision of what is meant by activities which will lead, in the end, to the use of force or violence or other unlawful acts. [More…]

• Of course, it becomes a matter of subjective opinion what activities fall within the description of subversion. [More…]

• In a sense, it is a fairly vague provision; but activities which would not otherwise be unlawful seem to us to be wrongly prescribed as falling within what might be termed the definition of subversion. [More…]

• We again seek further precision in relation to the definition or description of the word subversion’. [More…]

• In seeking to define subversion the clause reads as follows: [More…]

• If one looks at the Oxford Dictionary definition of expressions like ‘subversion’ or hostility’- subversion is not even defined in the Oxford Dictionary- one finds that the mere reference to the dictionary definition shows the imprecision and sloppiness of terminology which is present in these three sub-clauses of clause 5(1). [More…]

• They are amendments which are put forward in a constructive spirit in relation to what is a very difficult subject matter and that is the definition of subversion or the description of acts which can be regarded as subversive. [More…]

• -The definition of ‘subversion’ is perhaps one of the more difficult tasks that Mr Justice Hope had. [More…]

• I certainly approve- I think the Opposition as a whole approves- of the attempt which has been made in this Bill to give at least some statutory definition to the concept of subversion, and security as a whole, which was lacking in the previous legislation. [More…]

• Indeed, I go further and say that I have no objections to the general structure of that definition of subversion as it appears in the Bill where it is left quite openended as far as foreign initiated action is concerned. [More…]

• Some attempt has been made to detail the concept of subversion so far as domestically originated action is concerned. [More…]

• In Mr Justice Hope’s recommendations with respect to the domestic aspects of subversion, without spelling them out here in detail, it was clear that the concept of force or violence as an element in the notion of subversion- the concept of overthrowing the constitutional government, of unlawfulness in the activity involved or contemplated by the persons in question- was the basic flavour that emerges from his definition. [More…]

• It is certainly regrettable that the definition of subversion, as it appears in the Bill before us, reaches much more widely than the explicit recommendations on page 41 of the first volume of the fourth report of Mr Justice Hope. [More…]

• Included in the definition of ‘subversion ‘ are: [More…]

• It is the kind of organisation which in my view ought not, whatever it says in its platform, to attract the kind of scrutiny to which it would inevitably be subject if the present definition of ‘subversion’ remained. [More…]

• At the Committee stage the Government will be prepared to consider an amendment on one aspect of the definition of subversion. [More…]

• I was pointing out that if one reads the whole of clause 5 it becomes quite clear, since the important criteria to be used in determining whether acts of subversion have taken place concern the use of ‘force or violence or other unlawful acts’ for the purpose of overthrowing or destroying the constitutional government of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory’, that those editorial allegations were nonsensical. [More…]

• The Committee is after all dealing with clause 5 ( 1) (a) which deals with the meaning of subversion when it is not of a foreign origin. [More…]

• One has to construe this legislation as it stands and make a judgment at a particular time about what is to be regarded as subversion. [More…]

• If an Australian Security Intelligence Organisation agent or operative, or whatever he is called, tries to make a decision as to whether certain activities constitute subversion he is entitled to introduce into his consideration an additional element. [More…]

• We are talking about a definition of ‘subversion’ which, if satisfied, will bring into play the operation of some quite extraordinary, far-reaching and very dangerous powers; powers to tap telephones, install listening devices, open mail, intercept telegrams and enter and search premises. [More…]

• That is why it is crucially important to keep the definition of ‘subversion’ as narrow as is reasonably possible in all the circumstances given the objectives which the legislation is trying to achieve. [More…]

• What we are alarmed about when we consider the range of powers that attach to the application of the definition of subversion is that this kind of remote, unforeseeable and extremely distant contingency will set those powers in operation. [More…]

• For the purposes of this Act, the activities of persons, other than activies of foreign origin or activities directed against a foreign government, that are to be regarded as subversion are- (a) activities that involve, will involve or lead to, or are intended or likely ultimately to involve or lead to, the use of force or violence or other unlawful acts (whether by those persons or by others) for the purpose of overthrowing or destroying the constitutional government of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory. [More…]

• -The provisions of clause 5(1) (b) extend the definition of ‘subversion’ even further than those we have been debating for the last hour and a half. [More…]

• The first part treats subversion as: activities directed to obstructing, hindering or interfering with the performance by the Defence Force of its functions. [More…]

• I would go so far as to say that if this provision is to be given its face value, Senator Hamer ‘s speech in this chamber just a couple of weeks ago, in which he revealed in an extremely lucid and penetrating way just what a ramshackle structure Australia’s Defence Force has and that in a way that must have given considerable comfort to those people, perhaps overseas, who are interested in hearing such an analysis and in taking such a viewpoint- is that kind of attack on the Minister for Defence (Mr Killen), on the Army, on the Defence Force, which represents a paradigm of subversion. [More…]

• This provision would treat such activity as subversion and expose it to all the apparatus and listening devices, telephones taps and interception of mail that this Bill is about. [More…]

• I emphasise again that we are here dealing with definitions of domestic subversion, or activities on the domestic scene that may be regarded as of a subversive character, for the purpose of defining the powers of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. [More…]

• In fact, Mr Justice Hope recommended that the definition of subversion should include the activities of persons directed to- I quote his words- ‘obstructing, hindering or interfering with the taking of measures by the Commonwealth Government in the interests of the security of Australia’. [More…]

• The Committee is debating the definition of subversion. [More…]

• But we want to restrict the definition of subversion. [More…]

• Can the Attorney-General tell me whether this action would amount to subversion in the context of this clause? [More…]

• As I said earlier, the Government believes that the powers of a security organisation in relation to subversion should be wide. [More…]

• However, the New South Wales branch of the Transport Workers Union is vitally concerned that industrial action that it has taken in the past could now be classed under this clause as subversion. [More…]

• The Defence Force, when performing its functions, could deal with matters which come within the definition of subversion under this clause. [More…]

• We believe that if there are such activities which lead to actual hatred between certain groups in the community, then those activities are of such a character that they should come within the definition of ‘subversion’. [More…]

• It is our view that this clause should contain no reference to hostility or hatred being promoted between different groups in the Australian community as being one of the criteria of subversion, this enabling the various powers contained in this legislation to be exercised. [More…]

• It opens up the definition of subversion in such a way that it can be directed against groups and individuals in the community who, in our view anyway, should not be characterised as subversive. [More…]

• Given those sorts of passions, given those sorts of tensions and given the speeches and statements by all sorts of people right across the political spectrum that could surely be described as going to promote hatred or bitterness of a deep and intense kind between different political groups in the Australian community, is not that an illustration of the kind of thing which could be characterised as subversion? [More…]

• We concede that that is proper within the general concept of subversion, that it is proper to be here as part of that definition. [More…]

• However, the Opposition does not concede for one moment that the width of the definition is such as to extend to anything that can be construed as promoting hatred between different groups in the Australian community the proper characterisation of subversion. [More…]

• We are not here creating offences but simply giving powers to a security organisation to be exercised in certain circumstances, one of them being in this area of domestic subversion. [More…]

• Anxiety on these scores is much increased by the Special Branch’s involvement in political matters and especially by its duty under the Police Commissioner’s directive to be aware of subversion. [More…]

• Even if the citizen can form some idea of what this vague expression means, he is likely to be’ suspicious concerning the ability of those operating the Branch to distinguish between subversion and ordinary dissent from prevailing policies or established ideas. [More…]

• I know that I am out of order by referring to clause 5 which deals with the ridiculous definition of subversion- somebody blowing his nose might be subversive if he did it in a certain circumstance- and clause 8, with its unbearable and unreasonable load of responsibility on the Director-General. [More…]

• This can be done simply because the Director-General or one of his officers believes that someone may be involved in domestic subversion. [More…]

• People in the past have put a very wide definition on domestic subversion. [More…]

• There are people in the community and in the security organisation who would say that Senator Bonner, when engaging in what I would call legitimate political activity, was engaged in domestic subversion in opposing Government legislation, maybe even his own government’s legislations. [More…]

• The extent to which the concept ofthe security of the Commonwealth and what constitutes a security risk, acts of terrorism or subversion, is more precisely defined in this piece of Australian Security Intelligence Organisation legislation seems to go a long way towards meeting the criticisms levelled there. [More…]

• Subversion has been dealt with in clause 5 ( 1 ) (a), (b) and (c). [More…]

• The Opposition is entitled to say that the Government’s approach to the definition of subversion differs markedly from that of the Opposition, and the views that have been expressed in many sections of the media and by many civil liberties organisations. [More…]

• It may well be that a person in acting in a way which this Government defines as coming within the definitions of subversion. [More…]

• We certainly would not wish to see the sort of situation develop to which Senator Cavanagh referred, that is, a listening device being placed at the two pubs near the Trades Hall in Sydney to record the internal conversations of members of an executive of a particular union in order to get at one union official who it is felt should come under the net because he is involved in subversion. [More…]

• It recognises that this Government is hell bent on passing the legislation, that it has a perverted sense of what subversion means and that the party which forms the government has been associated with anti-democratic practices for a considerable number of years. [More…]

• They are the kinds of activities that active persons with a social conscience and a vision of a better Australia are entitled to be involved in without the brand ofsuspected subversion’. [More…]

• Bearing in mind the width of the definition of security earlier in the Bill, which includes terrorism as well as subversion, it would appear to be possible and within the agency’s power, if the mood so struck, to communicate security assessment information directly to a private employer who was not a Commonwealth contractor. [More…]

• It is what I had in mind when I said that we were not providing a right of appeal and never intended to provide a right of appeal about the sort of intelligence information that ASIO has generally about spies, terrorists or other people who may be engaged in subversion and other activities. [More…]

• Is there anything that Australia and other democratic powers can do to prevent this subversion of international organisations by the Soviet Union? [More…]

• It is a subversion of the recommendations put forward to the Government of New South Wales by the Wilenski committee which investigated the New South Wales Public Service. [More…]

• The purpose of that power is in aid of the security of this country in the exercise of the powers that ASIO has to watch over threats to this country of subversion, espionage, sabotage and now, as extended by the ASIO legislation, in relation to terrorist activities which, of course, as we all know, are a growing threat in the modern world in which we live. [More…]

• There is a great distinction in our minds between the right of the State to interfere with telephone interception to detect, for example, espionage or subversion and the right of the State to interfere through Customs officers, who are public servants and not members of a police force of any kind or of a qualified investigation bureau, in the question of privacy in the manner in which this [More…]

• One of the 10 people, Petr Uhl, is reported to have been charged under Article 98(2b) of the Czechoslovakian Penal Code with conducting subversion on a large scale. [More…]

• On 12 March this year Benda and his wife were charged with subversion of the republic. [More…]

• I cannot see that it will ferment revolution or subversion or treason. [More…]

• That is an instance of the subversion that I am talking about. [More…]