ASIO's powers are exceptional and deeply troubling. The detention in secret of non-suspects is more consistent with the apparatus of a police state and they should be repealed, writes George Williams.
David Hicks' future is as much a matter of politics as the law, but getting our leaders to step in and support him seems unlikely, write Fergal Davis and Nicola McGarrity.
The Gillard government's announcement that it won't push ahead with the referendum for constitutional recognition of Indigenous peoples comes as no surprise, writes Andrew Lynch.