Joo-Cheong Tham

Secret State, Transparent Subject: The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation in the Age of Terror:

Abstract This article describes the secrecy provisions embodied in the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Legislation Amendment Act 2003 (Cwlth). The article explains how these provisions curb freedom of speech and remove ASIOs activities from the domain of public scrutiny. It argues that by effectively criminalising open discussion of ASIOs activities the provisions insulate much of the domestic ‘war on terror’ from the public gaze. It also argues that the provisions implicitly sanction lawlessness by ASIO in open breach of the rule of law. By undermining free speech and the rule of law, this legislation increases the risk of torture of persons detained by ASIO. The legislation also exacerbates the punitiveness of such detention. Moreover, the secrecy offences will distort Australian politics by enabling the government to control and manipulate ‘security’ information. The article concludes that the increase in state secrecy and its impact are part of a continuing shift in the relative distribution of power between state and subject in liberal democracies; a shift that signals a move to more repressive or authoritarian forms of rule.

Temporary migrant nurses in Australia: Sites and sources of precariousness

Temporary migrant workers are widely regarded as a precarious group of workers. This precariousness is often traced back to the sphere of employment, though recent research also points to the implications of the limited rights entailed by temporary migrant status. This article draws on empirical work among registered nurses who have participated in the Australian 457 visa scheme – the major programme for temporary migrant workers in Australia. Using a range of empirical sources, including in-depth interviews with 26 temporary migrant nurses, we examine whether these nurses experience precariousness and locate the sites and sources of precariousness. The article draws attention to the importance of the regulatory context that defines different pathways from the country of departure to employment in the Australian healthcare system. We suggest that, although temporary migrant nurses are well integrated within the healthcare workforce in terms of formal wages and conditions, other stages in their migration pathways can be associated with precariousness. This in turn has significant impact on experiences at work and outside the workplace.

Dynamics of electoral expenditure and the ‘arms race’ thesis: The case of New South Wales

Calls for increased regulation are sometimes made in response to what is dubbed an ‘arms race’ in elections – a cost explosion in electoral expenditure driven by the competitive dynamics of elections. In 2010, New South Wales (NSW) adopted the first comprehensive caps on electoral expenditure in Australia on this basis. This paper examines the evidence for a cost explosion over the course of three NSW elections (1999–2007). It finds a significant but unevenly distributed increase in electoral expenditure – over 3 per cent per annum over and above inflation and the growth in voter population. In terms of explaining this spending increase, it finds a close relationship between electoral expenditure and the availability of campaign funds but a less clear one between such expenditure and the ‘winnability’ of the elections. 由于选举中发生的“军备竞赛”——选举的你追我赶造成选举成本的暴增——人们呼吁加强管制。2010年，新南威尔士对选举开销出台了封顶的详细规定，在澳大利亚尚属首次。本文考察了新南威尔士三个选举过程（1999—2007）中成本激增的情况。作者发现选举开销重要但分布不规则的增长——高于通货膨胀及选民增长百分之三。如何解释选举开销的增长呢？作者发现选举开销与选举资金获得的难易程度关系密切，而与选举获胜机会的大小的关系模糊。

ASIO and the Rule of Law

Joo-Cheong Tham teaches law at Victoria University. This article was presented to the ‘War on Terrorism: Democracy Under Challenge’ conference hosted by the Law School, Victoria University on 9 August 2002. email: JooCheong.Tham@vu.edu.au

Of Aliens, Money and Politics: Should Foreign Political Donations Be Banned?

There is significant public disquiet, hostility even, towards foreign political donations. This is evident from some recent controversies, to name but a few, which occurred in 2016. In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was criticised for providing ‘cash for access’ to wealthy Canadian-Chinese business communities said to have links to the Chinese Communist Party. The 2016 American presidential election saw both sides caught up in controversies involving foreign donations with allegations that the Republican Trump campaign may have acted illegally by soliciting donations from politicians in Australia, Scotland and Iceland, among others, and criticism of Democrat candidate, Hillary Clinton, for foreign donations that were received by the Clinton Foundation. And in Australia, a prominent Australian Labor Party politician, Senator Sam Dastyari, resigned from the Opposition frontbench after it was revealed that he supported China’s position in the South China Sea dispute, in contradiction with his party’s policy, at an event involving an Australian-Chinese donor who had paid his legal bills.