Stop the abuse of power by the NSW Government, the NSW Police Force, and the Catholic Church
Much of the following is copied from a post on crazyjane13's journal, but is deserving of wider circulation. (The copied bits are in blue.)
Get Your New and Easily Abused Police Powers Here:
World Youth Day, a gathering of Catholic youth for celebrations, workshops and religious observances, is to be held in Sydney later this year. The WYD website estimates around 125,000 people will attend from around the world, as well as an unspecified number of Australians. It's a massive effort that has received media attention of the kind last seen during the APEC conference. Channel Nine covered the catering, and Sky News will provide round-the-clock coverage of the event itself, which reportedly will include 450 concerts. Venues will include both the University of Sydney and the Opera House.
Naturally, the potential for tourist dollars is huge. The New South Wales government is bending over backwards to facilitate the smooth running of WYD, including putting on extra public transport and arranging diversion of traffic during the Stations of the Cross observance (which will, apparently, include an ascent of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Just as naturally, an event like this is certain to attract attention from those who take issue with the Catholic Church's stand on human rights issues such as abortion, gay marriage, ordination of women, to name a few. It tends to happen wherever the Pope goes. Last time he was here in Australia, there were protests and anger, but no violence and no disruption to public order. There wasn't any need for draconian security measures.
Apparently, though, WYD is more like APEC than it is a 'normal' papal visit. In fact, it might even be more of a concern. The NSW government have decided to grant police extraordinary powers of arrest just in case some of the attendees get annoyed or inconvenienced. These offences will attract up to a $5,500 fine.
That's right. If you wear a t-shirt with an 'offensive' slogan (say, "I support gay marriage"), you can be arrested. If you hand out free condoms to the thousands of teenagers running around Sydney, you can be arrested. If you organise a protest march that perhaps inconveniences the attendees by making them walk around the block, you can be arrested. And, lest you think these are absurd circumstances, take a look at this : the NSW Deputy Police Commissioner has refused to rule out either the t-shirt or the condom scenario.
Sydney police, of course, are downplaying the implications of these new powers. They don't believe they're unreasonable, simply a way to ensure that the day is peaceful and enjoyable for all.
"All"? We're talking about popular public venues, a university known to have several groups on campus planning to demonstrate when the Pope turns up to conduct Mass, and a city that wasn't a Catholic theocracy, last time I looked. The threat of arrest and fines is a deterrent to their right to "peaceful" and "enjoyable" lives, any way you slice it. The only people these powers are designed to benefit are the ones bringing in the tourist dollars - and the rights of anyone else can go hang.
Will gay groups at Sydney Uni be asked to take down their posters because they are 'offensive'? Will the needle bins in public toilets be removed? Will Muslim women be asked to remove their hijabs when walking around campus, and arrested when they refuse? Will the young man wearing a badge that says, "Pro Choice" be carted off and fined? The powers are so sweeping and vague that any one of these situations is not only possible, but likely.
These powers have not passed Parliamentary scrutiny - they weren't even up for discussion. Had the normal process taken place, maybe the Government would have been called to account for putting in place unnecessary, discriminatory regulations. Existing police powers ensure both public safety and law-abiding behaviour for these large events.
To give the police the power to harass and arrest citizens because they might "offend" someone is setting a very dangerous precedent. There are already groups saying they won't be deterred, and will be going ahead with planned demonstrations and distribution of condoms to WYD attendees. Even the Chaser boys have hinted that they won't be put off by these regulations.
I don't advocate violence or harassment. People have the right to informed belief of whatever they like, and shouldn't be persecuted for such beliefs. I'm all for hate speech and hate crime laws to protect people from the horrific consequences of intolerance. The powers given to NSW police for WYD, however, are not about protection from hate. They're about silencing dissent in any form, whether direct or implied. This isn't about preventing someone from calling for the execution of all Catholics - this is about muzzling someone who may only want to show their support for a cause that Catholics don't like.
The police powers should be struck down immediately. If they are not, and we do have situations like those I've mentioned above, then I really, really hope civil liberties groups get behind legal challenges and sue the crap out of the NSW government for their behaviour. It's completely unwarranted, and utterly repugnant.
There's not a huge amount you can do about this, but here are a few suggestions:
There's probably more you can do, but this is where my inspiration runs dry...
Get Your New and Easily Abused Police Powers Here:
World Youth Day, a gathering of Catholic youth for celebrations, workshops and religious observances, is to be held in Sydney later this year. The WYD website estimates around 125,000 people will attend from around the world, as well as an unspecified number of Australians. It's a massive effort that has received media attention of the kind last seen during the APEC conference. Channel Nine covered the catering, and Sky News will provide round-the-clock coverage of the event itself, which reportedly will include 450 concerts. Venues will include both the University of Sydney and the Opera House.
Naturally, the potential for tourist dollars is huge. The New South Wales government is bending over backwards to facilitate the smooth running of WYD, including putting on extra public transport and arranging diversion of traffic during the Stations of the Cross observance (which will, apparently, include an ascent of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Just as naturally, an event like this is certain to attract attention from those who take issue with the Catholic Church's stand on human rights issues such as abortion, gay marriage, ordination of women, to name a few. It tends to happen wherever the Pope goes. Last time he was here in Australia, there were protests and anger, but no violence and no disruption to public order. There wasn't any need for draconian security measures.
Apparently, though, WYD is more like APEC than it is a 'normal' papal visit. In fact, it might even be more of a concern. The NSW government have decided to grant police extraordinary powers of arrest just in case some of the attendees get annoyed or inconvenienced. These offences will attract up to a $5,500 fine.
That's right. If you wear a t-shirt with an 'offensive' slogan (say, "I support gay marriage"), you can be arrested. If you hand out free condoms to the thousands of teenagers running around Sydney, you can be arrested. If you organise a protest march that perhaps inconveniences the attendees by making them walk around the block, you can be arrested. And, lest you think these are absurd circumstances, take a look at this : the NSW Deputy Police Commissioner has refused to rule out either the t-shirt or the condom scenario.
Sydney police, of course, are downplaying the implications of these new powers. They don't believe they're unreasonable, simply a way to ensure that the day is peaceful and enjoyable for all.
"All"? We're talking about popular public venues, a university known to have several groups on campus planning to demonstrate when the Pope turns up to conduct Mass, and a city that wasn't a Catholic theocracy, last time I looked. The threat of arrest and fines is a deterrent to their right to "peaceful" and "enjoyable" lives, any way you slice it. The only people these powers are designed to benefit are the ones bringing in the tourist dollars - and the rights of anyone else can go hang.
Will gay groups at Sydney Uni be asked to take down their posters because they are 'offensive'? Will the needle bins in public toilets be removed? Will Muslim women be asked to remove their hijabs when walking around campus, and arrested when they refuse? Will the young man wearing a badge that says, "Pro Choice" be carted off and fined? The powers are so sweeping and vague that any one of these situations is not only possible, but likely.
These powers have not passed Parliamentary scrutiny - they weren't even up for discussion. Had the normal process taken place, maybe the Government would have been called to account for putting in place unnecessary, discriminatory regulations. Existing police powers ensure both public safety and law-abiding behaviour for these large events.
To give the police the power to harass and arrest citizens because they might "offend" someone is setting a very dangerous precedent. There are already groups saying they won't be deterred, and will be going ahead with planned demonstrations and distribution of condoms to WYD attendees. Even the Chaser boys have hinted that they won't be put off by these regulations.
I don't advocate violence or harassment. People have the right to informed belief of whatever they like, and shouldn't be persecuted for such beliefs. I'm all for hate speech and hate crime laws to protect people from the horrific consequences of intolerance. The powers given to NSW police for WYD, however, are not about protection from hate. They're about silencing dissent in any form, whether direct or implied. This isn't about preventing someone from calling for the execution of all Catholics - this is about muzzling someone who may only want to show their support for a cause that Catholics don't like.
The police powers should be struck down immediately. If they are not, and we do have situations like those I've mentioned above, then I really, really hope civil liberties groups get behind legal challenges and sue the crap out of the NSW government for their behaviour. It's completely unwarranted, and utterly repugnant.
There's not a huge amount you can do about this, but here are a few suggestions:
- Drop a line to the organisers of World Youth Day urging them to publicly call for these powers to be removed.
- Drop a line to the NSW Police urging them to publicly call for these powers to be removed, or to state, clearly and unequivocally, that the powers will not be used.
- If you live in NSW, drop a line to your local representatives in Parliament urging them to publicly call for these powers to be removed.
- Get on GetUp's back to take a stand on this issue.
- Contact your local media outlets - especially talkback radio - and tell them why these powers are unwarranted and dangerous.
- Also, if you yourself are a Catholic, you might consider contacting Morris Iemma directly, and telling him that you have sufficient strength of your convictions to be able to cope with the idea that someone, somewhere, might not share said convictions...
- And if you're not a Catholic, you might consider contacting Mr. Iemma in his capacity as Minister for Citizenship, and telling him how little you appreciate being made a second class citizen...
There's probably more you can do, but this is where my inspiration runs dry...