They Lied Australians Died

 

The guns were loaded, the knives were out.

The derelict buildings on the outskirts of the village were even more desolate than before.

The level of betrayal, that one human, one Australian, could do this to another, to others; he remained, he must admit, naive that these things could be. But they were.

The crows circled in swarms above, signals of evil; of death. 

And always, always, the ancients called. He had rarely been human, in all this times, and that saddest of sad pterodactyls, her chicks having died, her partner of so many seasons having failed to return; the last of her kind. She huddled against the cold, having pushed the dead chicks out and over the cliff edge. And she stared out at that bleak wasteland of ice and storm.

And she knew. They had been betrayed. They had all been betrayed. The gods were not kind. And her partner was not coming back.

She died of a broken heart, like so many before her, and so many to come.

NEWS

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2025 (often referred to in 2026 proceedings) expands ASIO’s compulsory questioning warrant powers and is advancing through Parliament this week (around 19 August 2026), with government-opposition support aiming for passage amid other bills like NDIS reforms. These post-9/11-era powers (originally temporary and repeatedly extended) allow ASIO to compel individuals—including children as young as 14 in certain cases—to answer questions or produce information relevant to security matters, with limited rights to silence, restricted lawyer involvement (especially for adults who may waive or have contact limited), secrecy obligations (disclosing the questioning can be an offence), and potential for extended sessions. The bill broadens the grounds for “adult questioning matters” beyond existing ones (such as terrorism/politically motivated violence, espionage, and foreign interference) to include sabotage, attacks on Australia’s defence systems, serious threats to territorial/border integrity, and the promotion of communal violence; earlier versions sought permanence by removing sunsetting, though amendments retained periodic review (e.g., around three years). @LyndaSJones Critics, including Greens senators like David Shoebridge, human rights advocates, and the Law Council of Australia, have condemned the measures as an outrageous expansion of state power that risks sweeping up legitimate political activity, protest, or speech under vague terms like “promotion of communal violence.” They highlight the extraordinary nature of secret, compulsory interrogation without charge (warrants are issued by the Attorney-General on ASIO application, not a court in the ordinary sense for the core process), the continued applicability to minors, constrained legal representation, and the potential for these once-temporary tools to become normalized tools of control. Opponents argue the expansions lack sufficient necessity or proportionality given the threat environment, erode rule-of-law protections, and enable mission creep into domestic dissent, with reports of the bill being fast-tracked via deals between Labor, the Coalition, and others while media attention focuses elsewhere. @LyndaSJones Senator Alex Antic has been a vocal opponent, stating he will vote against the bill and support any amendments to water it down. In statements and videos around 11 August 2026 (when debate was anticipated that week), he criticized the expansion of compulsory questioning to cover “promotion of communal violence (whatever that means)” and the retention of powers over 14-year-olds, warning that it broadens the net so far it “might sweep up legitimate political activity.” Antic has repeatedly emphasized that “extraordinary powers should never become ordinary,” framing the legislation as an unacceptable creep of intelligence powers at the expense of fundamental rights, even while affirming support for national security in principle. @SenatorAntic Overall controversy centers on the tension between security needs and civil liberties: supporters (government and much of the opposition) portray the updates as necessary modernization with retained oversight (prescribed authorities, Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security reporting, and reviews), while detractors see a quiet entrenchment and broadening of invasive tools that shift Australia further toward normalized surveillance and compulsion. Passage is expected soon after House approval earlier in 2026 and Senate advancement this week, despite dissent, reflecting major-party alignment on national-security expansions even as other legislation (e.g., NDIS cost controls and gambling ad reforms) also moves concurrently.