The Council for Civil Liberties’ Cameron Murphy said to ABC News:

Ministers accused of ‘driving’ Haneef case

[…] Australian Council for Civil Liberties national secretary Cameron Murphy has told AM it is clear there was political interference in the case.

“Clearly there were three facts put out to the media in this matter that appear to be plainly wrong,” he said.

“First, that Dr Haneef’s SIM card was used in the UK bombing. Secondly, that he had the names of known terrorists in his diary. And thirdly, that he was plotting to blow up some Gold Coast building.

“I think we are entitled to know if any of these incorrect facts originated from ministers’ offices, or if there’s [been] any pressure exerted from the Attorney-General or another minister, or their offices, in relation to this investigation.

“I think it’s all too easy to scapegoat the Australian Federal Police Commissioner and the Commonwealth DPP, when clearly ministers have been driving the commentary and the speculation over this case from the very beginning.”

Mr Murphy backed calls for an independent inquiry into the case.

“Otherwise the public can’t possibly have any confidence that terrorism investigations are going to be conducted independently and appropriately in the future,” he said.

No doubt about it, this whole Haneef witch hunt has been a shambles from the get go. One aspect which has simply astounded me is the fact that our government seems to possess some perverse desire to find terrorists on these shores. Its nothing short of sickening. Who on earth could actually WANT for there to be any connection here to terrorism? What sort of sick bastard actually wants to find that particular boojum in the closet? But the sheer zeal with which Hanneef was demonized and vilified suggests that this is exactly what our government wanted… even to the point of beating up threats where none exist.

We should be counting our lucky stars that Australia hasn’t faced any tangible terrorist threat, and not engaging some kind of messed up “me too” contest of the international war on terror. And what for? Just for one more term holding the reigns of power? It doesn’t get much more demented than that.

I have to add that Rudd’s preformance on the matter has been less than stellar too. Of course, its not hard to see the electoral strategy he’s going for, but I think Beazley’s record on elections is already is proof positive that the whole “Look, I’m the same as the other guy, but a bit nicer on IR” approach is a shit one. Given a contest between two Tory candidates, of course the electorate is going to vote for the party that actually believes in it.