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Police independence at risk from political pressure to restrict right to protest
3rd Oct 2024
The intense political and media pressure being applied to police in New South Wales and Victoria to restrict or stop Palestinian protest and vigil activity this weekend is not acceptable in a democracy, says the Australian Lawyers Alliance.
“Australia is a liberal democracy built on the rule of law and the police must have the freedom to make independent decisions without political or media pressure,” said Greg Barns SC, spokesperson for the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA.)
“Politicians must resist the temptation to interfere and to urge police to make decisions and take certain actions. This is the behaviour we see in authoritarian societies, not liberal democracies.
“We have seen a disturbing trend towards political commentary designed to influence police decision-making emerging in relation to pro-Palestinian protests.”
Examples of this includes the Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton demanding police charge participants in last weekend’s pro-Palestinian rally in Melbourne and, in Victoria, the shadow Attorney-General Michael O’Brien has issued a media statement calling on the Allan government to enforce laws against protestors.
“We have sufficient laws in place for the police to be able to manage protests and respond to any poor behaviour from individuals,” said Mr Barns SC. “Police operate separately from government, and it is dangerous for politicians and media to apply authoritarian pressure on police to further restrict the freedom of individuals to express their views.
“Restricting and prohibiting protests should only ever be a measure of last resort. A democracy relies on people getting involved, speaking up and engaging in robust debate. This helps to hold our governments and businesses to account and undue pressure on police to restrict protest activity is not acceptable.
“Once again Australia’s lack of human rights protection means that there is no right to freedom of speech and freedom to protest as there is in Europe, Canada and the US.”
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