[1] Barns represented Ezzit Raad in the 2008 trial of twelve men around Abdul Nacer Benbrika charged with terrorism-related offenses.
In 2002, Barns was disendorsed as the Liberal candidate for the Tasmanian seat of Denison, due to his criticism of the Howard government's asylum-seeker policies.
More frequent contributions appear in On Line Opinion, Crikey and the Hobart Mercury on issues pertaining to sport, law and politics (including the Australian federal election in 2007).
He revealed war crimes and he’s being punished for it.”[11] In 2020, he called for Australians to support Assange during his extradition hearing in the UK.
[13] In a 2020 opinion piece published in the Mercury, he warned of the potential human rights violations that could follow public acceptance of the Australian government's COVIDSafe app.
The app is intended to facilitate the contact-tracing of people who become infected with the disease, but he warns that data could be used for other purposes by other parties including police, immigration and intelligence agencies in Australia and the USA.