We would live in peace and tranquility and no one would know anything

Alex Byrne

Living in Queensland through the years of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen's conservative premiership, Derek Fielding was very active as president of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties which he played a significant part in revitalising. During the heady anti-Apartheid protests in Brisbane in the mid 1970s in particular, the Council played a critical role in defending the rights to protest and to public assembly. As Fielding noted, when discussing the part played by him and his colleagues in the Council:

... many of our preoccupations with civil liberties can be best clarified by an examination of the provisions of the United States Constitution and its amendments... [including] Prohibition of imprisonment without trial... Trial by jury... All citizens are assured of equal rights; Free exercise of religion... no abridgement of freedom of the Press, or of speech or of the right to assemble or petition... restrictions on unwarranted search or seizure of private property; Citizens are assured of proper legal procedures, including the right not to incriminate oneself; Excessive bail, excessive fines and cruel or unusual punishments are outlawed.[1]

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