Blockade Australia members were before Sydney Central Local Court this week - face prospect of two years gaol and $22,000 fine

 

The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 June 2022:

A car has driven through in Sydney's CBD as unrest continues.

A car has driven into a march by a climate activist group in Sydney’s CBD on Monday morning. NSW Police said they were aware of the incident and had commenced inquiries.

The Harbour Tunnel was earlier blocked by a member of the group Blockade Australia, while other CBD streets were obstructed during a morning of protest.

The woman, 22, from Lismore, blocked the southbound entrance to the tunnel by chaining herself to the steering wheel of her parked white car just after 8am.

The tunnel reopened after police arrested her. Southbound traffic on the Warringah Freeway and Gore Hill Freeway has since cleared.

The woman, named Mali, live-streamed the event in which an unknown man repeatedly approached her car to yell obscenities at her.

So far, 10 people have been arrested after participating in the unauthorised protest. They are awaiting charges at Surry Hills and Day Street police stations.

“I’ve watched much devastation with two one-in-100-year floods. This is climate change. I cannot stay silent any more. I cannot be complacent any more. The colony of Australia, this destructive colony system landed here, hellbent on spreading exploitative practices all over the earth,” Mali told viewers.

“To those people who are really angry right now, I understand, and it’s not a good thing to be experiencing. You know what? Climate change isn’t a good thing to be experiencing.

“There’s a lot of people yelling, it’s quite overwhelming, but it’s been an overwhelming year. I was lucky in Lismore, but I’ve seen people that I love lose everything and places I love be destroyed.”

The Blockade Australia protest began at Hyde Park at 8am and quickly moved across the city’s CBD towards the harbour. Streets were obstructed with wheelie bins, plastic crates, and other items.

The protesters began to disperse in the CBD just before 9am. According to internal communications seen by The Sydney Morning Herald, the group intended to reconvene at lunchtime. NSW Police estimate about 50 to 60 people were involved in the protest….

Read the full article here.

NSW Police Public Site – News, 27 June 2022, Charges laid following unauthorised protests, excerpt:

Police have made 10 arrests following unauthorised protests in the Sydney CBD and North Sydney this morning…...

Those arrested are:

• A 49-year-old man from Williamstown, Victoria, charged with Enter etc Sydney Harbour Bridge etc disrupt etc vehicles etc; pedestrian obstruct driver’s/other pedestrian’s path (two counts). He’s been bail refused to appear in Central Local Court tomorrow (Tuesday 28 June 2022).

• A 25-year-old man from Brandy Hill, NSW, charged with Enter etc Sydney Harbour Bridge etc disrupt etc vehicles etc; pedestrian obstruct driver’s/other pedestrian’s path (two counts). He’s been bail refused to appear in Central Local Court tomorrow (Tuesday 28 June 2022).

• A 34-year-old woman from Leichhardt charged with Enter etc Sydney Harbour Bridge etc disrupt etc vehicles etc; pedestrian obstruct driver’s/other pedestrian’s path; and wilfully prevent free passage of person/vehicle/vessel. He was given strict conditional bail to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on 21 July 2022.

• A 24-year-old woman from Preston, Victoria, charged with Enter etc Sydney Harbour Bridge etc disrupt etc vehicles etc; pedestrian obstruct driver’s/other pedestrian’s path; and wilfully prevent free passage of person/vehicle/vessel. He’s been bail refused to appear in Central Local Court tomorrow (Tuesday 28 June 2022).

• A 26-year-old man from Ellinbank, Victoria, charged with Enter etc Sydney Harbour Bridge etc disrupt etc vehicles etc; pedestrian obstruct driver’s/other pedestrian’s path; and wilfully prevent free passage of person/vehicle/vessel. He was given strict conditional bail to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on 21 July 2022.

• A 21-year-old woman from Lismore Heights charged with Enter etc Sydney Harbour Bridge etc disrupt etc vehicles etc. She’s been bail refused to appear in Central Local Court tomorrow (Tuesday 28 June 2022).

• A 30-year-old woman from Carnegie, Victoria, charged with Enter etc Sydney Harbour Bridge etc disrupt etc vehicles etc; pedestrian obstruct driver’s/other pedestrian’s path; and wilfully prevent free passage of person/vehicle/vessel. She was given strict conditional bail to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on 21 July 2022.

• A 22-year-old woman from St Lucia, Queensland, charged with Enter etc Sydney Harbour Bridge etc disrupt etc vehicles etc; pedestrian obstruct driver’s/other pedestrian’s path; and wilfully prevent free passage of person/vehicle/vessel. She’s been bail refused to appear in Central Local Court tomorrow (Tuesday 28 June 2022).

• A 25-year-old man from Coburg, Victoria, charged with Enter etc Sydney Harbour Bridge etc disrupt etc vehicles etc; and wilfully prevent free passage of a person or vehicle. He’s been bail refused to appear in Central Local Court tomorrow (Tuesday 28 June 2022).

• A 22-year-old woman from Petersham charged with Enter etc Sydney Harbour Bridge etc disrupt etc vehicles etc; and wilfully prevent free passage of a person or vehicle. She’s been bail refused to appear in Central Local Court tomorrow (Tuesday 28 June 2022).

Perth Now, 28 June 2022:

The young woman who locked herself onto the steering wheel of a car blocking Sydney's harbour tunnel in peak-hour traffic has been granted conditional bail along with fellow climate protesters……

Mr Davis outside court said his clients were brave in the face of the newly implemented penalties that target protests on major roads, ports and railways.

Some face two years in prison and a fine of $22,000.

The group will next return to court on July 19 where they are expected to enter pleas.

Bail conditions include reporting to police three times a week, restrictions from entering Sydney's CBD, and prevention from contacting co-accused.

#Breaking: 31-year-old man from Bondi fined for negligent driving for driving through Blockade Australia protest yesterday in Sydney. $469 fine and 3 demerit points. @9NewsSyd pic.twitter.com/2oOWKl90IH

— andrew rickert (@_rockrit) June 28, 2022

OK, in general I'm against climate change extremists causing this disruption to the city. Then I read that the Harbour Bridge blockade woman was from Lismore. NSW has royally screwed Lismore & other disaster locations. Those people are desperate. https://t.co/R8sG8w2IUX

— TheTossitAcctForCustomerServiceIssues (@BadCustSvc101) June 27, 2022

Supreme Court removes authorised status from a planned protest march from Sydney Town Hall to NSW Parliament House & rally calling for justice for Indigenous man David Dungay Jr. who died in police custody in 2015

NSW Police, Latest News, 26 July 2020:

NSW Police Force statement on Supreme Court decision  

The NSW Supreme Court has prohibited a public assembly planned for Sydney on Tuesday (28 July 2020) due to health and safety concerns associated with COVID-19. 

The protest is now unauthorised. 

Those thinking of attending – despite the Supreme Court decision and health advice – are strongly urged to reconsider their plans. 

While the NSW Police Force recognises and supports the rights of individuals to exercise their right to free speech, large-scale events, such as these, are currently subject to restrictions under the Public Health Act. 

As such, police will not hesitate to take the appropriate action, if required.

The NSW Supreme Court case in question was Commissioner of Police, New South Wales Police Force v Padraic Gibson (OBO Dungay Family) - 2020/00213575.

Apparently NSW Minister for Lands and Forestry Paul Toole thinks voters are gullible fools

When approached by ABC journalists sometime before publication of this online article concerning recent changes to regulations under the NSW Crown Lands Management Act 2016, a spokesperson for NSW Minister for Lands and Forestry, Minister for Racing and Nationals MP for Bathurst Paul Toole stated the new provisions were:

"substantially the same as the provisions in the existing Crown Lands By-law 2006."

Adding words to the effect that the suggestion that new regulations were designed to ban protests was wrong.

It appears that the minister and his staff think that voters across the entire state (and particularly those living in the Northern Rivers region) never learnt to read, write or comprehend simple sentences.

What other reason could there be for such a bald-faced political lie?

This is the by-law referred to in the spokesperson's statement supplied to ABC News.

Excerpt from Crown Lands (General Reserves) By-law 2006:

Current version for 25 June 2018 to date (accessed 28 June 2018 at 00:26)

Part 3  Division 1  Clause 22

22   Conduct prohibited in reserve

(1)  A person must not, without reasonable excuse:

(a)  damage, deface or interfere with any structure, sign, public notice, descriptive plate, label, machinery or equipment in a reserve, or

(b)  obstruct any authorised person or employee of, or contractor to, the reserve trust of a reserve in the performance of the authorised person’s duty or the employee’s or contractor’s work in the reserve, or

(c)  pollute any fresh water, tank, reservoir, pool or stream in a reserve, or

(d)  bring onto a reserve any diseased animal or any noxious animal, or

(e)  walk over, mark, scratch or otherwise mutilate, deface, injure, interfere with, remove or destroy any Aboriginal rock carving, its surrounds or any other Aboriginal object in a reserve, or

(f)    (Repealed)

(g)  remain in a reserve or any part of a reserve or any building, structure or enclosure in the reserve when reasonably requested to leave by an authorised person, or

(h)  bring into or leave in a reserve any refuse, waste material, scrap metal (including any vehicle or vehicle part), rock, soil, sand, stone or other such substance.

Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.

(2)  A person must not in a reserve for a cemetery:

(a)  interfere with any grave or monument, or

(b)  open any coffin, or

(c)  disturb or interrupt any service, procession, cortege, gathering, meeting or assembly, or

(d)  bury any human remains (whether cremated or not).

Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units.

Now spot the very significant differences in the new regulation.

Excerpts from Crown Land Management Regulation 2018 under the Crown Land Management Act 2016:

9 Conduct prohibited in dedicated or reserved Crown land

(1) A person must not do any of the following on dedicated or reserved Crown land:

(a) damage, deface or interfere with any structure, sign, public notice, descriptive plate, label, machinery or equipment on the land, or

(b) obstruct any authorised person or employee of, or contractor to, a responsible manager of the land in the performance of the authorised person’s duty or the employee’s or contractor’s work on the land, or (c) bring in or on to the land any animal that is diseased or a pest, or

(d) walk over, mark, scratch or otherwise mutilate, deface, injure, interfere with, remove or destroy any Aboriginal object in or on the land, or

(e) remain in or on the land or any part of the land or any structure or enclosure in or on the land when reasonably requested to leave by an authorised person, or

(f) bring into or leave on the land any refuse, waste material, scrap metal (including any vehicle or vehicle part), rock, soil, sand, stone or other similar substance.

Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units.

The list under the heading Activities that can be prohibited on Crown land by direction or notice under Part 9 of Act (1) contains 36 banned activities, including sitting on a picnic table.

However four in particular are activities often associated with community meetings, gatherings expressing local concerns and public information events.

Each of the activities specified in the following Table is prescribed for the purposes of sections 9.4 (1) (b), 9.5 (1) (b) and 9.5 (2) of the Act:

3 Holding a meeting or performance or conducting entertainment for money or consideration of any kind, or in a manner likely to cause a nuisance to any person

4 Taking part in any gathering, meeting or assembly (except, in the case of a cemetery, for the purpose of a religious or other ceremony of burial or commemoration)

6 Displaying or causing any sign or notice to be displayed

7 Distributing any circular, advertisement, paper or other printed, drawn, written or photographic matter

Excerpt from Crown Land Management Act 2016 No 58:

 Note.

Clause 6 of Schedule 7 provides for certain land under Acts repealed by Schedule 8 to become Crown land under this Act. Section 1.10 then provides for this land to be vested in the Crown.

Land that will become Crown land under this Act includes land vested in the Crown that is dedicated for a public purpose. This land was previously excluded from the definition of Crown land in the Crown Lands Act 1989. See also section 1.8 (2).

So there you have it - very clearly set out.  

An extension of government power and, a wide delegation of that power given the extended definition of Crown land, which will see community gatherings challenged, shut down and people moved on if local police, council officers or representatives of government departments/reserve trusts decide either the message or the visuals are considered politically unpalatable by government.

Oh, and I hope North Coast Voices readers have noticed that the maximum fine which can be imposed on an individual has been increased from 5 penalty points ($550) to 50 penalty points ($5,500).

ABC News - ABC North Coast, 26 June 2018:

The new regulations will apply to all crown-owned land, which amounts to about half of all land in New South Wales.

The 35,000 crown reserve sites include parks, heritage sites, community halls, nature reserves, coastal lands, sporting grounds, government infrastructure and showgrounds.

Mr Ricketts said the new regulations were bigger and broader than those imposed under the Bjelke-Petersen era in Queensland in the 1970s.

In September 1977, then Queensland Premier Johannes Bjelke-Petersen proclaimed the day of the political street march was over.

"Anybody who holds a street march, spontaneous or otherwise, will know they're acting illegally," he said.

The statement was echoed by the acting police commissioner and was police policy until April 1978.

During the two-year ban, 1,972 people were arrested.

Mr Ricketts said he expected a similar reaction in New South Wales, if the new regulations were enforced.

"They banned street marches for the right to march — which led to violent policing," he said.

The Knitting Nannas protest group joined the chorus of concern.

Spokeswoman Judi Summers said she was shocked to learn about the new rules.

She said the group's strategy of holding weekly knit-ins outside the offices of local politicians might not be possible under the new regulations.

"Well it would have shut us down basically," Ms Summers said.

"We've been knitting outside of Thomas George and Kevin Hogan's [parliamentary] offices for the last sort of six years.

"Every Thursday without a miss, and if these laws had been introduced way back then, we would have been moved on right from the start."

Lawyer and NSW Greens candidate for Lismore, Sue Higginson, said over the years, she had represented hundreds of protestors in court, through her work with the Environmental Defenders Office.

"I see time and time again, the courts — generally speaking — have a real concern about having to penalise people who have found that they are in a position of having to break laws to stand up for an issue or to protect the environment or to protect a civil right," she said.

"So where we are criminalising really benign behaviour, and behaviour that people have a right to do, it becomes a real problem for the courts."

Ms Higginson said a good example was the role of town halls played during the coal seam gas protests on the Northern Rivers.

"If you look back to how the community in the Northern Rivers mobilised to protect the land and water here from coal seam gas, a lot of that organisation and the information and the those meetings — they were held in those town halls."

Ms Higginson said under the new regulations, meetings could be banned or dispersed from town halls.

"People should definitely be alarmed and the biggest problem about this kind of thing is it's difficult to understand the application these laws will have until you're impacted," she said.