By Maurice Sibelle
BRISBANE — On April 27 Brisbane City Council moved to restrict severely peaceful assemblies in Brisbane malls. New regulations require organisers of mall protests to give two weeks' notice of their activity. Permits will not be granted if the mall managements have scheduled "approved promotions".
Under the Peaceful Assemblies Act 1992, peaceful protest is supposed to be guaranteed. Local authorities are allowed to regulate, not prohibit, peaceful assemblies.
The council claims that it was necessary to protect "approved promotions" because protesters could maximise their impact on the public by scheduling protests to clash with promotions.
Susan Price, spokesperson for the Democratic Socialist Party, retorted, "The opposite is true. It is the City Heart Business Association which is planning promotions to clash with our peaceful protests.
"We have been protesting every Friday at 5.30 p.m. since early February. Yet the mall management has scheduled fashion parades and bands at the same time in the nearby rotunda. The music and public address system are twice as loud as necessary in an attempt to drown us out. The crowds block pedestrian traffic, and yet it is we who the council claims are a nuisance."
The campaign for free speech in the mall began in February when the council began implementing regulations which prohibit the sale of newspapers like Green Left Weekly, the erection of stalls, the distribution of literature and the amplification of speakers. These rights are allowed to "approved promotions". The City Heart Business Association is the body that organises "approved promotions" in the Queen St Mall, where the regulations are being disputed.
Queensland Greens convener Drew Hutton and Democrat Senator John Woodley joined with civil liberties president Terry O'Gorman in claiming that the mall traders had far too much influence over the Brisbane City Council. Hutton called for a community group to have a say over freedom of assembly issues in the Queen St Mall.
"It seems the traders have a greater right [to the mall] yet we say the mall was paid for out of the public purse", O'Gorman told the Courier Mail.
At a protest in the Queen St Mall on April 30, a reporter from radio 4ZZZ was arrested while questioning police on why they were harassing people selling the Socialist newspaper.
The council has now granted permits to Green Left Weekly to sell newspapers in the mall. The permits allow unlimited sellers in three zones which cover traditional sales spots. Conditions include that edestrian traffic, that papers are not forced on people and that stalls not be erected. The permits are for a one month trial period.