Protest and gathering together are ways for people to create unity, to highlight what they see as important, when they see a problem, when the government of the day is not living up to the expectations of its citizens, and when a system is failing and should be strengthened.
Gathering together is a way we can shape our communities, bring people together, and show strength in the face of adversity. Our Australian Jewish community should be free from harassment and vilification by those trying to make a point about Israel, let alone being free to peacefully gather together to celebrate Hanukkah without being massacred by haters. It’s understandable that, having recognised that the real danger of local religious and political passions has been underestimated, the government should act.
However, the proposal by NSW Premier Nick Minns to create a terrorism designation, following the horrific deaths in Bondi last week, is not just a law that will restrict protest but will seek ‘to restrict any public gathering, and that includes vigils, that includes prayer meetings – and people getting together is actually about letting people express themselves to the wider community, whether it’s to mourn, to grieve, and call for reform,’ explained Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, David Mejia-Canales, on the ABC.
The proposed laws, likely to pass on Monday and Tuesday in NSW parliament, will also ensure that the courts cannot overrule the determination that would be put in place by the police in agreement of the minister.
The new power to ‘declare a specific area where the public assemblies are restricted for a period of time’ will not create better outcomes for our communities, he said.
‘We really caution the Minns government against jumping to misguided crackdowns on peaceful gatherings,’ said Mr Mejia-Canales. He highlighted that there were no mass protests like the Harbour Bridge protest in the weeks prior to Bondi’s devastating violence, saying, ‘we really do think that the premier is seeking to conflate two things that are not the same thing. One of them is people expressing their views about the genocide in Gaza and the other people actually being horrified about antisemitism and racist violence. Australians are united against both of these things, against the genocide and against hate crimes, and we need to be acting carefully and deliberately.’
Mr Mejia-Canales made it clear that human rights law already provides a clear framework to restrict large gatherings that might place a significant strain on police resources, or gatherings with risks to the community.
‘Any restriction has to be lawful. It has to be necessary, and above all else, it has to be proportionate to the aim or the problem that it is trying to solve,’ he explained.
‘And governments then have an obligation to fully justify these restrictions, to ensure they meet these strict criteria. And the premier has not done this yet. The premier has started to conflate all these different points and try to force an outcome where really, these things actually need to be taken carefully and measured, particularly right now, when we are in a time of crisis and mourning.’
As we see fascist, authoritarian regimes find footholds worldwide and drive us towards conflict, this is not the time to restrict people’s opportunities to peacefully and constructively voice concerns, object to bad government policy, and decision making, or inaction. It is a time to bring people together in democracy, create connection and healing, and look to ways we can exist together, in peace, in this multicutltural country we call home.
Aslan Shand, editor
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