Albury MP Amanda Cohn has concernes that protests like this one in 2022 will be much more difficult to hold in the future. Photo: Amanda Cohn MP.
An Albury MP says a “rushed” NSW parliamentary inquiry on banning protest slogans could lead to a dangerous overstep to restricting our freedom of expression.
The NSW Government’s “measures to prohibit slogans that incite hatred” inquiry was launched on Christmas Eve but has already closed its window for public feedback, with submissions due by Monday (12 January).
The inquiry is looking into the threat that the use of phrases such as “Globalise the intifada” poses to community cohesion and safety. That particular slogan is used to advocate for international support of Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation, though some see it as a call for political violence.
“We already have very strong legislation against hate speech and the incitement of violence, and rightly so,” Albury Greens MP Amanda Cohn said.
“Slogans and phrases that aren’t captured by legislation are inherently a grey area and interpreted differently by different people.
“This NSW Government shouldn’t be jumping in to ban these slogans … there hasn’t been any link established between the types of phrases they’re talking about banning and what happened at Bondi.”
Dr Cohn also criticised the very tight timeframe during the holiday season for people to express their views to the inquiry.
“People like me on the Victorian border are completely fixated on bushfires at the moment; they’re not thinking about hate speech legislation,” she said.
“It’s really disappointing this committee process has been so rushed and that some people’s voices might be excluded as a result.”
The inquiry was called just after the NSW Labor Government passed a bill to restrict political protests in the state.
The new laws gave the Minister for Police the power to block protest rallies for between 14 days and up to three months after a terrorist attack. The same bill also imposed a number of restrictions of firearms use and ownership.
“These measures form a strong regime to protect the community from those who would seek to do us harm and tear us apart,” NSW Attorney General Michael Daley said.
“There is no place for conduct which espouses hate, threatens or intimidates others and we are giving police the tools they need to hold perpetrators to account.”
Dr Cohn said she supported restrictions on gun use, but saw new protest laws as an overreach and targeted at pro-Palestinian groups.
“How does taking away people’s right to peacefully express their views make anyone safer?” she asked in a speech to parliament on the bill.
“It is a fundamental human need to express ourselves and to feel heard. In a healthy democracy, that includes being able to do so publicly and with others. I am not talking about hate speech. This is about the right to express legitimate opinions. Taking away that right builds tension and does not make anyone safer. The only beneficiary of restrictions on protest is a government that wants to avoid scrutiny.”
The inquiry committee on banning slogans will produce a report to NSW Parliament that will also be published online by 31 January.
Due to the short timeframe for this inquiry, the committee says it will not publish all the submissions it receives. It will “only publish submissions from subject matter experts and organisations (including community organisations)”.
