Posted on 12/11/2005 5:40:59 PM PST by listenhillary
TERRORIST suspects under house arrest will be sent to anger management school, given psychological counselling and offered training and education in a bid to turn them from violence.
The Federal Government is developing a program to rehabilitate potential terrorists who authorities have deemed a threat to public safety and placed under control orders. The measures were approved last week by Parliament as part of the new anti-terrorism laws and will apply to those detained without charge on suspicion that their movements should be restricted to prevent an attack.
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock believes the measures will address alienation and help impressionable would-be terrorists learn the error of their ways.
"Control orders were not just meant to be imposed as a punishment," Mr Ruddock's spokeswoman said yesterday.
"This program will help them change the behaviour that's resulted in them being the subject of a control order."
She said the program was particularly aimed at alienated and impressionable young people.
"It will be educative and address things like literacy, anger management and provide counselling to give them life skills that will help them overcome these tendencies," she said.
Control orders can vary from an apprehended violence order restricting movement and orders not to make contact with certain people, to requiring people to wear electronic tracking devices.
The education and counselling could include vocational training or academic study.
Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Ameer Ali said he was to discuss the new program with Mr Ruddock today.
Islamic youth leader Fadi Rahman said anything that would help misguided young Muslims was welcome.
"If a young person was caught up with the wrong crowd of people, we would like the Government to lend a helping hand and lead them in the right way," he said.
Geoff McDonald, the senior Attorney-General's Department bureaucrat who drafted the laws, said no one would be forced into education or counselling.
"Counselling or education is designed as something that will be of assistance to the person - not something that will be imposed against that person's wishes," he said in answer to questions from Opposition senators examining the laws.
"The Bill provided for a person to participate in specified counselling or education, and does not limit the type of counselling or education."
Opposition justice spokesman Joe Ludwig said there had not been enough time in the committee stage to explore further.
"We've obviously got further questions about how this scheme will operate," he said.
"This is just another example of how ramming a bill through the Senate doesn't give enough time for adequate scrutiny of each of the provisions."
Senator Ludwig said there were 74 government amendments to the legislation and more than 100 amendments had not been debated because the Senate ran out of time when the Government forced a vote.
Slugs are cheaper.
Australian anger-management therapy:
"Right then, mate...be nice or I'll kill you."
Our tax dollars at work
No wonder Aussies are fed up and taking to the streets.
Is this satire..
But they don't help the employment prospects of social workers and therapists.
We wish it was satire.
Watch for many new "private practice" unlicensed therapy centers to open soon.
"The education and counselling could include vocational training or academic study."
They will all want to go to flight school..
milk & cookies......and maybe a Barney tape and Mister Rogers before afternoon nappy time. Makes the ACLU happy...
"Are we exporting libs to Australia?"
Actually we are importing them.
It does seem a whole lot more reliable way, to deal with terrorists, is to just hang them.
Personally, I think I'd rather just be given ten pounds of TNT and sent to a lonely corner of the desert.
While I think that something like this is worth a shot, I expect that this will not work at all.
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