I find it greatly concerning that laws are passed with such haste, and then justified by very recent events. To clarify, the two recent events which seem to be frequently cited by the law makers is:

* An anti-terrorism raid across two states, which charged one person and questioned several others. This happened a couple of weeks ago.

* A tragic incident in which an 18yo stabbed two police officers and then was shot dead. This happened a few days ago.

I fail to see how any of the provisions in the new laws are able to be justified by either of these events.

Firstly, the anti-terrorism raids worked seemingly well without the yet-to-be-passed-laws. They successfully used existing laws to thwart a plan that allegedly involved the beheading of random members of the public.

Secondly, no amount of surveillance or detaining will stop a determined individual from being able to stab somebody who is standing right in front of them.

So as troubling as these two events were, it is also troubling that they are being used in this manner by politicians of both major persuasions.