By Maurice Sibelle
BRISBANE — Several hundred people joined a rally for democratic rights in Brisbane's Queen Street Mall on February 5. The rally was a response to the Brisbane City Council's campaign to remove all political groups from the mall.
The noisy rally lasted for two and a half hours. A stall was set up to collect petitions. It was surrounded by sellers of Green left Weekly and the Socialist in defiance of the Brisbane City Council guidelines, which prohibit stalls, newspaper sales, leaflet distribution and amplified speaking. All these rights are granted to "approved" organisations.
Several council officers and dozens of police were mobilised to prevent these activities. Police ordered protesters to pack up the stalls, and numerous warnings were made to stop protesters from selling newspapers and handing out leaflets. Twelve people were arrested, including two bystanders.
The rally was addressed by Chris Griffith from the Watchdog Committee. Griffith read from leaked minutes of a meeting between the council and mall traders. The minutes quoted councillors saying that sellers were not a serious problem in the mall.
The minutes also show how the plan to drive political groups from the mall was hatched. They quote Graham Campbell-Rider, president of the City Heart Business Association, explaining to councillors how to link newspaper sales to commercial rather than political activity. This would then allow the council to claim that it is not banning democratic rights.
The council is using legislation and guidelines that were introduced during the Bjelke-Petersen era. One difference is that under the Peaceful Assemblies Act, the council cannot ban peaceful assemblies. Police allowed speakers in the mall without amplification. One protester pointed out, "I can stand here and tell you what I think, but the moment I write it down and give you a copy of it, I am committing an offence".
Louisa Foley, a representative of Green Left Weekly, gave this account of a meeting with Jim Soorley, the lord mayor, and David Hinchcliffe, the councillor responsible for the mall: "They were completely intransigent to our demands. It is obvious that they have been planning this for some time. Soorley refused to budge on the claim that he was only regulating commercial activity by banning newspaper sales.
"What's even worse is that Soorley said he was planning to move on leaflet distribution in the surrounding streets. If they apply the same guidelines to the city streets, then there will be no alternative literature available in the city." Soorley told the local business paper, City News, "People deserve to shop and work without being harassed by groups forcing their ideas down other people's throats."
"This is a return to the bad old days of Joh", commented Susan Price, Democratic Socialist candidate for the seat of Brisbane in the federal elections. "We can't allow the council to get away with this. We know that people in this city support our democratic rights. In just one night we collected over 1000 signatures calling on Soorley to rescind his undemocratic mall regulations. We'll be back here every week until we win this fight."
The campaign will continue on Friday, February 12, at 5.30 p.m. in the mall.