Bill cleared to curb violence during Games

Attorney General Daryl Williams moved quickly on Friday to quell fears that the bill could be used to prevent civilian protest. “It is not a bill that licenses the Defence Force to shoot civilians," he said.

“We wanted to have it in place for the Olympics on the basis that the Olympics is seen by some people in the community as an occasion to grandstand their issues and there are some people who do it in a malevolent way.”

He said the army would only be called out in an extreme situation. “The only situation that you can really contemplate atthe moment is a terrorist action of some sort that poses a real danger to the lives of people,” he said. “Now we hope that never happens.”

He said the power to call out the troops had existed since the constitution was enacted at the beginning of the century, and the bill simply codified circumstances under which the powers could be exercised.

But the World Economic Forum (WEF) was not one of them because the Victorian state police would handle security for that, he said.

An alliance of Trotskyists, anarchists, students, trade unionists and radical environmentalists has vowed to close the WEF with a blockade by at least 10,000 pickets.

Williams and Defence Minister John Moore issued a joint statement to say the legislation included significant safeguards on how the call-out power could be used.

“The bill makes it clear that the defence force cannot be used to stop or restrict any protest, dissent, assembly or industrial action unless there is a reasonable likelihood of the death of, or serious injury to, people or serious damage to property.”

“However, if the defence force is ever needed to aid police in Australia, this bill will ensure that process is open to scrutiny and that the powers of the troops are defined clearly,” it added.

Democrats defence spokeswoman Vicki Bourne voiced fears the government could use the new laws to send troops in to break up industrial protests.