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Aussie Police Consider Using Automated Spy Drones

Posted by timothy on from the no-one-likes-to-underspend-a-budget dept.

beaverdownunder writes "Police in the Australian state of Victoria have confirmed that they are investigating employing unmanned drones in the war against crime, following the lead of law enforcement agencies in the United States, set to begin using drones as of tomorrow. This revelation has alarmed Australian civil libertarians, who fear that in a country with no constitutionally-protected civil rights, people could be surveilled for political reasons."

2 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. Boomerangs. It's Australia. by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 5, Funny

    >>I wonder how easy it will be to shoot those out of the sky, shotgun? or rifle?

    They'll use boomerangs. Everyone in Australia is trained to use these from the age of two.

    Disclaimer: My cultural intelligence is mostly the result of action cartoons from the 1980s.

  2. Re:what they really meant by ixuzus · · Score: 5, Informative

    Only in Australia there is constitutional case law saying that political free speech is implied by the constitution. There are three or four High court decisions I know of on the matter but probably the best known is Australian Capital Television Pty Ltd v Commonwealth. As the High Court interprets it, so shall it be. Granted, it isn't nearly as broad as elsewhere but it is there.