National Human Rights Consultation Submission 

AGWW-7RD54W 

Name: Chris Hawkins 

Submission Text: 

Dear Friends
 

 
I see no need for a separate charter or bill of rights in Australia. All
 
our rights are enshrined in common law, and the passage of time has
 
thrashed out virtually all the wrinkles in this system.
 

 
To start again with a new bill of rights is really just re-inventing the
 
wheel, and will be both costly to taxpayers, and time consuming. There is
 
no need for either, especially now when the economic climate is tight, and
 
there are far better things to do with taxpayer funds than contemplate a
 
bill of rights.
 

 
I like our current system, where we have elected parliament as our legal
 
guardians, and do not want the judiciary to decide what is right and wrong.
 
Track records for judicial decisions is not wonderful, and appropriate
 
checks and balances for human rights that we have in place now are
 
preferable to a bill of rights overseen by the judiciary.
 

 
The existing protection of our rights through common law has stood the test
 
of time, and proven that our rights can be protected through times of
 
social change and development. An enshrined list of rights becomes a
 
monster because of the difficulty in changing it as social needs change
 
(and things do change), and I do not want such a bill of rights.
 

 
A bill of rights in its very essence implies a list of "wrongs" which
 
cannot easily be documented without tedious argument, again a costly and
 
time consuming issue. Also, the premise of such a bill is rarely stated:
 
are things acceptable if they are not specifically forbidden? Or are they
 
forbidden if not specifically stated as acceptable? I do not want to see
 
our community getting caught in this bind, and taking years or decades to
 
determine what is or is not acceptable. I do not want a bill of rights... 

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