If You Are Planning to Protest in Victoria, You Better Do It Soon

Police quad bikes at Occupy Melbourne. Image via

Earlier this month, the Summary Offences and Sentencing Amendment Bill was passed in the Australian state of Victoria by a parliamentary vote of 20-18. The bill gives police the power to pre-emptively arrest peaceful protesters if they are suspected of turning violent. Exemptions that were once in place for "protest activity" have been scrapped and move-on orders can now be issued if people are disrupting traffic or blocking access to buildings. The police are also able to ban individuals from public places for up to 12 months and failure to move when told is punishable with a fine or a two year jail sentence. Basically, it just got a lot harder to assemble a political protest or to even just assemble in public.

Unsurprisingly, the bill has been branded as "excessive" by Australian Human Rights Commissioner, Tim Wilson (although it’s hard to trust someone with such a blasé approach to water canon usage) and concerns are already being raised over its compliance with the Victorian Charter of Human Rights.

“The laws are excessive, unnecessary and are likely to be misused," says lawyer Anna Brown, who advised on the Charter in relation to the conduct of human rights litigation. “Police already have a range of powers to arrest, detain and charge people for things like trespassing and obstruction of justice. The government simply hasn’t made the case that these new powers are necessary.”

The case has certainly been made, however, for the unneccessary nature of the new powers. Around thirty protesters from various Melbourne campaign groups gathered to express their views in the public gallery as the bill was being passed. But it seems as if police have already begun implementing heavy-handed tactics against protestors: debate had to be suspended when four people were ejected from the building and three were arrested. Melbourne activist and comedian, Sean Bedlam was one of them.

“We were asked to quiet down for spontaneous applause at the end of a speech by a Labour MP arguing against the act. Then, suddenly, the speaker said that he was clearing the gallery,” explains Bedlam. “It all felt very arbitrary so most of us decided to stay.”

Bedlam claims he was physically assaulted by Protective Service Officers and captured footage of himself and other protestors being forcibly removed on his mobile phone.

“They brought in the Critical Incident Response team, who are your standard riot cops; the 2 percent body fat, scary dudes,” he says. “One picked up [fellow protestor] Caz, tossed her like a rag doll, dragged another member of the group, threw her on the ground and stood on her like a doormat. Then he grabbed me by my head and dragged me out using my head as a tow bar.”

Despite an official police spokeswoman saying protestors will be charged on "summons with refusing to leave a parliamentary precinct", Bedlam says no one told him why he was being arrested and sees his treatment – and the bill itself – as further evidence of escalating police brutality. In 2011, Victoria police made national news after members of the Occupy Melbourne group claimed they had been punched, dragged and attacked with pepper spray when a riot squad was sent to clear their City Square camp.

“There’s a culture of impunity within the police force,” says Bedlam. “It’s very hard to bring them to justice because they’re so powerful, we want to try and do that for the sake of the people who were assaulted at Occupy Melbourne.”

Indeed many see the amendments to the Summary Offences Bill as a direct response to high profile demonstrations like Occupy Melbourne, as well as community campaigns such as anti-McDonalds group, Burger Off.

But it’s the protests against the construction of an 18km [11,2 miles] toll road linking the Eastern Freeway to Melbourne’s western suburbs that have proved to be the most irritating thorn on the side of federal government. Campaign groups such as the Yarra Campaign for Action on Transport have opposed the East-west link since Liberal Premier Denis Napthine announced that he would be funding the first stage of the $17 billion project in May last year.

Protest against the construction of the new toll road in Melbourne. Image courtesy of Yarra Campaign for Action on Transport

Arguing that the road will not ease congestion and that funds should instead be invested in public transport, campaigners have chained themselves to drilling equipment, staged rallies and blockaded the office of construction company, John Holland. But with the Summary Offences bill scheduled to come into effect later this year, could protests like those held against the East-west link become a thing of the past?

“I hate to think that would be the case but the design of the bill is to send the message that if you’re going to cause trouble, you’ll pay a hefty price,” says Elizabeth O’Shea, a lawyer with Maurice Blackburn who has represented Victorian activists in relation to trespassing claims. “It’s something that people who are organising protests should be aware of.”

But it's not just protesters who should be worried about the bill – the new move-on powers can be used against vulnerable groups too. “It’s yet to be clear how the powers will be used but there’s a lot of suspicion for potential criminal conduct that can then justify a move-on order,” explains O’Shea. “Really, that can end up being used to target vulnerable members of society, particularly homeless people.”

Another target is trade unions. Members of unions including Ambulance Employees of Victoria and the Electrical Trade Union joined with community campaigners at Melbourne’s Trades Hall last month in unity against what was then only a proposed bill. As the law becomes a reality, union delegate Stephen Jolly has stated: “We'll get arrested, we'll go to jail, we'll resist and we'll build a mass movement to get rid of these laws."

While slightly less defiant than Jolly, Australian Council of Trade Unions, President Ged Kearney also has concerns over the Summary Offences bill, which severely limits workers’ ability to take industrial action against employers. “The right to protest and take a public political or moral stand is an integral part of a decent and just society,” he says. “Liberal governments hate workers having any power and this is just another example of them trying to erode it.”

‘Workers having power’ is just one item on a long list of things Liberal governments don’t like. Over the past few months, they’ve been responsible for laws that leave refugees in dangerous offshore detention centres, restrict people’s right to associate in public and legalise the dumping of coal sludge into World Heritage Sites. But with 30,000 people attending Melbourne’s anti-government March rally earlier this month and further demonstrations planned against the Summary Offences bill, it won’t be long before "protesters who refuse to back down" is also added to the list.

@phoebejanehurst