Australian government to deport American antiwar activist

By Mike Head
14 September 2005

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In a fundamental attack on political free speech, the Australian government last Saturday detained and set about deporting an American antiwar and anti-corporate activist because his presence in the country was a “threat to national security”.

There is no direct precedent for the removal of Scott Parkin, 36, a Texas community college history teacher. He arrived in Australia earlier this year on a six-month visitor’s visa to participate in a series of demonstrations and workshops directed against the Iraq war and the profiteering of Halliburton and other giant US corporations.

Without any warning, his visa was revoked and he was bundled away from a Melbourne cafe by six Australian Federal Police officers and immigration officials. He was then placed in solitary confinement in a police cell at Melbourne Custody Centre. His detention came just before he was due to give a workshop for the Pt’chang Non-violence Community Safety Group on grassroots political campaigns.

Parkin was arrested two days after Prime Minister John Howard unveiled a new barrage of measures that trample over basic political freedoms and civil liberties, setting the scene for a “counter-terrorism” summit with state and territory leaders on September 27.

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