I have the highest respect for Terry O'Gorman, the Vice-President of the Queensland Council of Civil Liberties.But now Terry has gone into bat for convicted child rapist Robert John Fardon demanding that it should become a criminal offence to publicly reveal the whereabouts of released sex predators.
Channel 7 Brisbane should be congratulated for its efforts on behalf of eight families in North Ipswich where 23 children live within a stone's throw of the house Fardon was to occupy.
By making it a criminal offence, Channel 7 would have been legally prohibited from airing the genuine concerns expressed by these worried parents.
The protection of our civil liberties will always be a very fine balancing act between the competing views of governments, courts and the people.
But when it comes to the rights and liberties of the workers and battlers of North Ipswich trying to raise their kids in a safe environment, I will always back them against the so-called noble sentiments expressed by lawyers in their ivory towers in downtown Brisbane.
