Waste of time

Bill of rights

A PROPOSAL for Australia to adopt a human rights act appears to have hit the fence after widespread opposition within the federal cabinet.

Senior sources have told the Herald that the proposal, sponsored by the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, met stiff opposition because it had the potential to shift power from the executive to the judiciary.

No final decision has been made but there is little prospect of an act being adopted.

''Put it this way, there's not a great appetite for a major transference of power from Parliament to the courtroom,'' a source said.

Err, why didn't someone tell McClelland and Father Frank Brennan this before the committee toured the country consulting the tiny fraction of the community that actually had any interest?