The Statute of Liberty – How Australians can take back their rights

Anyone still on the fence about the need for additional human rights protection in Australia should pick up a copy of the very timely The Statute of Liberty - How Australians can take back their rights by leading human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC.

You don’t need to be a lawyer to understand this clear and compellingly argued book. Robertson provides both historical and geographic context to the debate. He gives readers an insider’s perspective of the beneficial impact of recent human rights legislation elsewhere in the world.

Recommended reading, also for the way Geoffrey Robertson forensically demolishes the arguments of leading critics and for his own innovative draft Statute of Liberty with its own, distinctly Australian, character. Published by Randon House Australia.

A more extensive review by Brisbane barrister Stephen Keim SC can be found in The Australian newspaper.

You can also hear Geoffrey Robertson give a potted history of the development of human rights and his call for Australia to follow just about every other developed democratic nation and enact its own Bill of Rights. Far from being a banquet for greedy lawyers to feast on, Robertson says, such a bill protects the most vulnerable members of society. ABC Radio National, April 1, 2009