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The Federal Court today struck down the six month police search powers should be a wake up call, not just for police, but for the politicians who enabled them. The Parliament of Victoria, in enacting laws that allowed such sweeping powers, crossed a line from governance into human rights abuse. The six month search powers would have allowed police to stop and search anyone in designated areas without reasonable suspicion, turning ordinary streets into zones of arbitrary surveillance. In its judgment, the Federal Court made clear that these powers were unlawful and incompatible with fundamental rights, including the rights to privacy, freedom of movement, and peaceful assembly. These aren’t minor oversights, they are core protections that underpin a functioning democracy.
Yet the Victorian Parliament pushed them through. Elected lawmakers, sworn to uphold the law produced legislation that violated the rights of all Victorians. In doing so, they failed in their most basic duty, to protect the people they represent. The court’s decision shines a light on a systemic problem, when politicians legislate without adequate consideration of human rights, the consequences are immediate, personal, and legal.
This is not just about police powers. It is about the moral and constitutional responsibility of Parliament itself. Legislators who allow the suspension of fundamental freedoms in the name of expediency or political theatre are complicit in undermining democracy. Every Victorian should ask, how can representatives entrusted with power authorise laws that a court finds to breach human rights? Accountability must be more than a media soundbite. The Federal Court’s ruling sends a clear message that unconstitutional legislation has consequences, and those who enact it bear responsibility. Whether it is through public scrutiny, judicial review, or the ballot box, the architects of such laws must face the judgment of history and of the people they were elected to serve.
Victorians deserve leaders who protect rights, not strip them away. Until lawmakers understand that human rights are not negotiable, their legitimacy remains in question. Today’s ruling is not just a victory for the courts or activists, it is a stark indictment of Parliament itself. The people of Victora should call for the resignation of the Premier of Victoria and the Minister that introduced the unconstitutional Bill robbing ALL Victorians of basic fundamental Human Rights.
Once again it is clear since the Vanderstock electric car tax outcome in the High Court and todays striking down of the Commissioners and the Victorian Parliaments Human Rights abuses that Section 16 of the Victorian Constitution 1975 needs to be amended to put a limit to the powers of the Victorian Parliament who consistently run punch drunk with power, it provides:
The Parliament shall have power to make laws in and for Victoria in all cases whatsoever.
CONSTITUTION ACT 1975 - SECT 16
Legislative power of Parliament
The Parliament shall have power to make laws in and for Victoria in all cases whatsoever.
From the above two rulings it is clear the Victorian Parliament does not have the power in all cases whatsoever!