After being embarrassed by its own police force, which allowed an antisemitic protest in front of the NSW parliament, Labor is rushing for cover by asserting it needs new laws to stop such an event from taking place again.
Police already have the power to disband protests or prevent them from happening. They had been sent a “Form 1” request from a couple of well-known Nazis, which included their antisemitic political manifesto, but they did not try and stop it from going ahead as they have done for several Palestine protests — including the historic march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Meanwhile, after a public outcry, the police officer who attacked Palestine protester Hannah Thomas has just been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and recklessness causing grievous bodily harm.
Thomas, who almost lost one eye, was among about 60 people peacefully protesting outside SEC Plating on July 27 over its complicity in genocide. It manufactures finishes for F-35 fighter jets being used to bomb Gaza.
Police had said they were satisfied with Senior Constable Christopher Davis’ behaviour but a public outcry forced an about-turn. He will be sentenced in January, however he has not been fired.
More recently, police enthusiastically capsicum sprayed and assaulted anti-war protesters outside the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition on November 4, which Premier Chris Minns said he was “delighted” to sponsor. Ten people were charged.
Now, following the neo-Nazi protest, Minns is pushing to reintroduce laws banning protests near places of worship — similar laws that the Supreme Court only recently struck off.
The shocking images of neo-Nazis with their antisemitic banner has caused alarm, which is why Minns is opportunistically using the moment. With the support of the Coalition, he took advantage of similar fears in February over the Dural caravan “plot”, despite police saying, at the time, it was likely a hoax.
Labor premiers in Victoria and Western Australia are also pushing to restrict the right to free speech.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan introduced the Justice Legislation Amendment (Police and Other Matters Bill) on November 12. It seeks to limit protest rights, including giving police new powers to remove facial coverings, banning lock-on devices and creating new offences related to places of worship.
Labor claims the new laws are necessary to counter “a rise in antisemitic incidents across Australia”, despite producing no evidence that anti-genocide protests are linked to antisemitic attacks.
As the Melbourne Activist Legal Support noted, police already have the power to stop neo-Nazi groups and new laws will, ultimately, lead to the repression of those rallying against “hateful ideologies”. It also said the new laws will do nothing to change conditions that “enable racist, xenophobic and other hateful ideologies”.
Murray Wesson, University of Western Australia associate professor of law, said new laws in WA, which criminalise social media posts about “crimes”, could “infringe the constitutionally protected implied freedom of political communication”.
The Conservation Council WA and the Greens WA are also speaking out against the new “Post and Boast” laws.
The reality is that state Labor governments are using the so-called “law and order” push to distract from their failures on a myriad of mounting concerns, such as the housing and cost-of-living crises, overloaded health and education systems and a lack of action on climate.
Focusing on a made-up “youth crime wave” to make it legal to lock up children for life is another example of this crackdown.
The Allan government’s “Adult Time for Violent Crime” bill, set to be introduced before the end of the year, follows the Queensland Liberal National Party and the Northern Territory Country Liberal Party governments in criminalising children, which will disproportionately impact First Nations and Sudanese children.
Eroding civil and democratic rights is not only wrong; it creates space for the mainstream right and the far right, which can latch on to genuine concerns about government overreach to spin its hateful messages.
Minns is pushing for police to be able to issue move-on orders at places of worship to supposedly address “harassment” and “intimidation”. Such laws will potentially criminalise abortion rights and anti-church sexual abuse activists who have rallied outside churches in recent years.
It could also impact other protests, as many are called at or near Sydney Town Hall or Hyde Park, in proximity of many places of worship.
It’s worth noting that banning protests near religious sites and schools was a key point in the Zionist-organised “Combat Antisemitism Movement” summit on the Gold Coast in September, and was included in antisemitism special envoy Jillian Segal’s proposal to Labor.
There is clearly a coordinated effort by supporters of the Israeli state to try and quash the strong anti-genocide movement, with the support of Labor governments and police.
As Thomas said about her case, it is not just individual police who needed to be held to account but senior police, ministers, prime ministers, premiers and weapons companies.
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