Australia: Pro-Palestinian and climate protests met with restrictions, excessive force and arrests

Australia remains rated as ‘narrowed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor in its most recent report published in December 2023. Concerns highlighted previously include the continued prosecution of whistle-blowers, the passage of anti-protest laws which are at odds with Australia’s international obligations, and the arrest of climate protesters.

In recent months, protests in solidarity with Palestine have been met with arbitrary restrictions, excessive force and arrests. Police have also arrested climate protesters for their activism, with some fined and others facing prosecution. In a partial victory for climate protesters, the New South Wales (NSW) Supreme Court overturned sections of the state’s anti-protest laws. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation sacked a journalist for posts on Gaza and also released footage to the police that led to charges against climate protesters. Activists condemned the prosecution of an Afghan war crimes whistleblower and have called for reforms to national security laws, secrecy laws and whistleblower protection laws.

Peaceful Assembly

Authorities attempt to block Pro-Palestinian protests in NSW

There have been multiple pro-Palestinian protests in Australia following the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, protesting killings and other atrocities against the civilian population. The authorities have responded with arbitrary restrictions or arrests of protesters in clear contravention of their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly.

In New South Wales (NSW), on 12th October 2023, the authorities vowed to stop marches from proceeding. The premier, Chris Minns, pledged to crack down on protesters, saying they had already “proven they’re not peaceful”. NSW police also rejected an application to hold a protest on 15th October 2023, on the grounds it was submitted with less than a week’s notice. The protest, which was initially planned as a march through the city, then became a static rally at Hyde Park. The police also said it would use “extraordinary powers” to search protesters without reason and arrest and charge people who refuse to identify themselves.

The Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) condemned the NSW Police Minister and NSW Police for refusing to allow a planned protest to go ahead by members of the Palestinian community and their supporters. It also said that ‘’requiring peaceful protesters to seek authorisation to protest, or face jail time and a AUD 22,000 (USD 14,763) fine, is undemocratic and completely unjustified in Australia”.

The HRLC acting legal director, Alice Drury, said the response from both the police and government had been “disproportionate” and set a “very dangerous precedent”.

Protesters arrested for occupying Defence Minister’s office

On 1st November 2023, police arrested protesters at the office of Australia's Defence Minister.

The Loud Jew Collective occupied Defence Minister Richard Marles’ office on 1st November to protest Labor’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza. About 50 demonstrators demanded Marles and federal Labor withdraw economic, diplomatic and military support for Israel's occupation of Palestine. The protesters spent the next four hours singing Jewish cultural songs.

Some chained themselves by the neck to a ladder at the office. Many refused to leave until police intervened, carrying them out by their arms and legs.

In videos posted on X, protesters were seen occupying the lobby and singing, covering the floors in protest signs that read "stop the genocide" and "ALP supports ethnic cleansing". Some of the protesters were photographed blocking the office's main entrance and displaying banners that read “stop the genocide” and “disarm Israel”.

Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested and pepper-sprayed in Melbourne

On 7th November 2023, police used pepper spray on pro-Palestine activists during a protest that blocked part of a busy intersection next to the Flemington racecourse ahead of the Melbourne Cup. Four people were detained after being arrested at the protest, where about 100 activists chanted “Free Palestine” and “Ceasefire now” outside the major sporting event and blocked a road leading to the racecourse. Videos also show police dragging protesters away from the scene as they attempted to move traffic through the intersection.

Police use excessive force and arrest 23 at pro-Palestinian protest at Sydney port

On 22nd November 2023, NSW Police charged 23 pro-Palestinian activists who gathered at Sydney's Port Botany to protest against the unloading of an Israeli-owned shipping company vessel last night.

About 400 people gathered at the port with children and elderly people in attendance. Demonstrators were waving flags and carrying signs calling for a boycott of ZIM, the Israeli-owned shipping company, and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Police said they were issued with move-on orders but did not comply. Legal observers and others on the scene did not witness a reason being given for the move-on orders.

Police subsequently charged the protesters with failing to comply with a move-on direction, and damage or disruption to a major facility.

The organisers, Palestine Justice Movement Sydney and Unionists for Palestine, along with civil rights groups, condemned the police for their response after riot squad and mounted officers forcibly tried to disperse the crowds, which included children. Protesters claimed the police were aggressive and appeared unconcerned about the potential for a crowd crush as a result of their actions.

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties, the Human Rights Law Centre and the Australian Democracy Network reported that a protestor was pinned down on the ground by three officers, with one officer pushing down on her back with his knee and several protestors being apprehended with a wrist hold which bent their hands forward to the point of them screaming in pain.

The groups released a joint statement saying they were “deeply concerned” about the “police repression of a peaceful protest”.

Pro-Palestine protesters arrested after blocking road outside defence company

Police arrested multiple protesters on 18th December 2023, at the scene of a pro-Palestine rally after they blocked a major Melbourne roadway and held up traffic for several hours.

The protesters used a car to block traffic at Lorimer Street and Todd Road in Port Melbourne just after 6am, causing major traffic delays. The car was parked outside the Defence Science Technology Group, a company the demonstrators claimed was producing and exporting weapons to conflict zones in the Middle East.

Some protesters glued their hands to the road and locked themselves into cars and concrete barrels to evade being removed.

More than 100 arrested after climate protesters blockade coal port

In November 2023, New South Wales police charged more than 100 people in Newcastle after protesters blocked a major coal port beyond an agreed deadline.

NSW police said they would allege in court that protesters had entered the harbour channel at the Port of Newcastle after the 30-hour blockade was due to finish “despite appropriate warnings and directions”. Subsequently, 109 people – including 49 males, 60 females, five of which were juveniles – were arrested. 104 were charged.

On 25th November 2023, an estimated 3,000 people from across Australia took part in the 30-hour weekend blockade. Groups of protesters took turns paddling out into Port of Newcastle’s shipping lane to maintain a 30-hour blockade, with hundreds paddling on kayaks, surfboards and pontoons. Dozens of protesters remained in the water following the protest cut-off point - triggering the arrests.

They aimed to stop coal exports from leaving Newcastle in what organisers hoped would be the biggest civil disobedience action in Australia’s history. Police granted permission for the protest to take place after several months of negotiations, the organisers Rising Tide said.

The NSW Council of Civil Liberties said in a statement it was concerned that legal observers were arrested at the protest.

Climate activists arrested and fined in Melbourne

In December 2023, police arrested and fined 72 climate activists AUD 385 (USD 258) each for blocking a Melbourne CBD intersection. The action was by Extinction Rebellion demonstrators, culminating in a rally outside Flinders Street Station at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston streets calling on the federal government to reduce carbon emissions.

Many who attended the rally came prepared to be arrested, saying their actions were a last resort. Environmental activist Violet Coco said “protesters resorted to stopping a busy intersection because they are not being heard” and that “disruptive action was necessary”.

Ongoing trial of climate protesters in Queensland

The trial of 14 climate protesters who were charged for a protest inside the state parliament in November 2022 is ongoing.

In November 2022, the Extinction Rebellion protesters used a balcony that overlooks the Queensland parliament chamber to unfurl banners demanding an end to fossil fuel use, with some gluing themselves to handrails. Their chants of "stop coal! stop gas!" forced MPs to suspend parliamentary proceedings for three minutes.

The activists were later charged with disturbing the legislature, which carries a maximum penalty of three years behind bars.

In October 2023, the validity of charges against the activists was questioned in court. The charges fall under section 56 of Queensland’s criminal code. But a Brisbane court heard that a later section of the same act repeals section 56 as an offence. Section 717 of the criminal code explicitly says that a person cannot be charged with, prosecuted, convicted or punished for disturbing the legislature.

In November 2023, the hearing was postponed until February 2024 while they await a judgment on a challenge to the validity of the law brought by one of the protesters, Lee Ann Coaldrake.

Partial victory in anti-protest law challenge

In a victory for climate protesters, the New South Wales (NSW) Supreme Court overturned sections of the state’s anti-protest laws in December 2023.

Human Rights Watch said that in the 13th December decision, Justice Michael Walton found that parts of the legislation rushed through the NSW parliament in 2022 to crack down on protesters was unconstitutional and had a “chilling effect on political communication via protests and public assemblies.”

The legal challenge was launched by two members of the “Knitting Nanas” climate protest group, Helen Kvelde and Dominque Jacobs, who argued the laws were unconstitutional because they undermined “freedom of political communication” in NSW. Jacobs said she was scared that under the laws she could be arrested for simply attending a protest near a major facility such as a train station.

The court found the burden was unjustified where the protest activity caused people to be redirected or caused a facility to be partially closed. Those parts of the laws were therefore invalid.

The NSW government introduced the laws in 2022 following climate protests which disrupted Sydney’s Port Botany. They threatened to impose AUD 22,000 (USD 14,763) fines and jail time of up to two years for anyone who caused “damage or disruption” to a major facility.

Expression

Australian Broadcasting Corporation sacks journalist for posts on Gaza

Senior management at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) summarily terminated journalist Antoinette Lattouf on 19th December 2023, apparently because she has posted critical comments on Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in Gaza.

Among the posts was an instagram post from Human Rights Watch that said “The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a weapon of war in Gaza”.

Lattouf is a Lebanese Australian social commentator, columnist and diversity advocate. She is a contributor to various outlets including the Guardian, and is the co-founder of Media Diversity Australia.

Lattouf was employed on a short-term contract to fill in as host of ABC Sydney radio on weekday mornings. In a statement posted online yesterday, Lattouf said she was “very disappointed” by the decision. “I believe I was unlawfully terminated,” she wrote. “This is not a win for journalism or critical, fair thinking. I’m currently considering my legal actions.”

Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance said: “The decision to sack Antoinette Lattouf from her role as an ABC radio presenter over sharing a social media post from a reputable human rights organisation is incredibly disturbing.”

Climate activists charged after news outlet provides footage to police

In November 2023, three Western Australian (WA) environmental activists say they believe that footage provided by the ABC to police likely resulted in them being charged with criminal offences.

The activists were charged on 22nd November 2023 in relation to a planned protest outside the Perth home of the Woodside chief executive, Meg O’Neill, in August.

The ABC current affairs programme Four Corners was filming with activist group Disrupt Burrup Hub in the days before the incident and were there when police arrested several members of the group outside O’Neill’s home. Three activists were charged in the days immediately after the protest.

On 6th October 2023, WA police requested the ABC to surrender footage captured. MEAA, representing over 5,000 journalists and media professionals throughout Australia, expressed their concern over the police’s demand to compromise source confidentiality and launched a petition urging the ABC management to resist the order. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said: “Demands for a public broadcaster to release footage represent a significant overreach of power by police and present a distinct risk to press freedom.”

However, three months later, after the ABC complied with a “compulsory legal process” to hand over hours of raw footage captured by the Four Corners crew, three other activists - Nicholas Doyle, Tahlia Stolarski and Joana Partyka - were charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Activists condemn prosecution of Afghan war crimes whistleblower

In November 2023, civil society groups raised concerns about the democratic impact of the prosecution of David McBride, after the Afghan Files whistleblower pleaded guilty to three charges.

McBride’s plea came after pre-trial rulings blocked the use of a defence that the former Army lawyer’s actions were in the public interest. In 2022, McBride was forced to abandon a defence under federal whistleblowing law following a last-minute national security intervention by the government. The Labor Government had earlier resisted calls from lawyers and civil society groups to intervene and stop the prosecution.

As previously documented, McBride was facing national security-related charges for exposing allegations of misconduct by Australian special forces in Afghanistan. He leaked the information to three senior journalists at the ABC and the then Fairfax Media newspapers. The material later formed the basis of “The Afghan Files”, a 2017 ABC exposé revealing allegations of misconduct by Australian special forces in Afghanistan, including possible unlawful killings.

Kieran Pender, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre said: “There is no public interest in prosecuting whistleblowers, and certainly no public interest in sending them to jail. This development must be a warning sign to the government that reform to federal whistleblowing law and the establishment of a whistleblower protection authority is urgent and long overdue.”

Court of appeal ruling underscores need for reforms

On 9th January 2023, the ACT court of appeal found the former Coalition government’s reasons for shrouding the highly publicised trial of Bernard Collaery in secrecy were “replete with speculation and devoid of any specific basis”. A newly released judgment found the original Collaery ruling gave too much weight to national security – which should not trump open-court justice.

As previously documented, in 2018 Canberra lawyer Collaery and his client, former intelligence officer Witness K, were charged with offences relating to their alleged disclosure of information about Australia’s immoral espionage against neighbours Timor-Leste. Australia bugged Timor’s cabinet office in the early 2000s to gain an advantage in commercial negotiations over oil and gas under the Timor Sea. In 2021, Witness K pleaded guilty and was given a suspended sentence. Collaery pleaded not guilty and in July 2022, following the election of the Albanese government, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus KC discontinued the prosecution.

Kieran Pender, Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said: “Open justice is a critical democratic principle, protecting the human rights of all Australians. There is no place for secret trials in Australia’s democracy. The Collaery and Witness K prosecutions have underscored significant deficiencies in Australia’s national security laws, secrecy laws and whistleblower protection laws.”