AUSTRALIA: Court Upholds Free Speech at Major Catholic Event

By Stephen de Tarczynski Reprint | | Print |

Stephen de Tarczynski

MELBOURNE, Jul 17 2008 (IPS) - While young Catholics from around the world have converged on Sydney to rejoice in their faith during this year’s World Youth Day, others are celebrating the removal of a controversial regulation which would have made protesting during the event a risky venture.

The Federal Court’s decision on Jul.15 – the day that this year’s World Youth Day (WYD) festivities began – to strike out a clause making it illegal to “annoy” an attendee of the Catholic Church-organised event is being viewed as a win for civil rights in Australia.

Rachel Evans, from the No To Pope Coalition (NTPC) – Evans brought the application against the state of New South Wales (NSW) with fellow NTPC member, Amber Pike – described the ruling as “a major victory to the protest movement.”

Under the regulation, people deemed to be causing annoyance to WYD attendees faced arrest and a fine of up to 5,500 Australian dollars (5,343 US dollars).

The court ruled that that the clause pertaining to an authorised person – which under the regulation, means a police officer, a member of the State Emergency Service, or a NSW Rural Fire Service member – having the power to direct a person within a WYD declared area to stop engaging in conduct which “causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants” in a WYD event, be amended.

The court stated that the clause, as it stood, was invalid, and removed the reference to “annoyance”.

“We have interpreted the WYD Act on the presumption that it was not the intention of Parliament that regulations would be made under the Act preventing or interfering with the exercise of the fundamental freedom of free speech,” declared the judges.

The controversial regulation has drawn comparisons with legislation passed for last year’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum – also held in the harbour city – perceived by civil libertarians as undermining democratic freedoms.

Prior to the handing-down of this week’s decision, Evans told IPS that the Coalition – which includes the Humanist Society of NSW, Community Action Against Homophobia, and the Australian National Secular Association, among others – would go ahead with its protest march on Jul.19 regardless of the outcome.

“Of course, we have concerns about being fined but we think the right to express our view needs to be out in society when the Pope is here,” said Evans.

Pope Benedict XVI is currently in Australia for WYD. The event – which culminates on Sunday with a final mass presided over by the pontiff – is described by organisers as “an invitation from the Pope to the youth of the world to celebrate their faith.”

With more than 200,000 pilgrims estimated to have also arrived in Sydney from around the world for the Catholic gathering, the NTPC sees the event as an opportunity to protest against the Church’s views on issues such as contraception, sexuality, and reproductive rights.

“We are providing a service to the Catholic youth. We’re going to talk to them about sexual health, we’re going to talk to them about bigotry and why a social justice platform should include an anti-bigotry component,” said Evans.

The NTPC plans to hand out condoms to Catholic youth during the weekend protest, but Evans denies that the action will cause annoyance.

“If someone doesn’t want to take a condom, they don’t have to take a condom. If someone doesn’t want to engage in a discussion about why condoms save lives and why bigotry kills, then they don’t have to engage in that discussion,” she said.

The outcry over the regulation comes amid a myriad of other controversies surrounding WYD.

Sydney’s Catholic Archbishop, George Pell, remains embroiled in a dispute over how he handled the case of a priest found to have committed sexual abuse against a boy, while the parents of two girls raped by a priest have arrived in Sydney from London seeking an audience with the Pope.

Additionally, homelessness advocacy group Homeless Voice has claimed that around 130 homeless people have been forced to relocate by authorities, while a gay and lesbian Catholic forum – which WYD organisers reportedly attempted to prevent – has been conducted without official support.

It was also revealed in early July that NSW police had contacted Broken Rites – a Melbourne-based organisation supporting victims of Church-related sexual abuse – to warn the group against protesting in a way that would contravene the new law.

Evans says that the NTPC also received police requests about its planned protest. The NTPC complied with the requests so that the police “cannot argue that we have not been forthcoming” with information regarding the protest march.

But while protestors may now “annoy” people in WYD declared areas without fear of arrest or of being fined – although they still risk such action if they are deemed to “inconvenience” WYD participants – concerns have also been raised regarding how the regulation was enacted.

The Governor of NSW, Marie Bashir, passed the regulation with advice from the state’s executive council.

Cameron Murphy, president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL), is critical of the amendment not being subject to parliament’s approval. “Not only did it not have public scrutiny or public debate, there was no parliamentary scrutiny or debate,” says Murphy.

“It was simply pushed through on a Friday without even any announcement from the police or government that these new laws were in place,” he adds.

The new regulations only came to light with the 27 June issue of the Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales, a weekly publication of the NSW government listing legislation and regulations. The regulation pertaining to WYD was listed under a “Special Supplements” heading.

Murphy likens such a quiet implementation of a new law to Australia being “a police state”.

“If governments are able to remove rights in this way, ultimately it will affect all of us,” he argues.

Murphy told IPS that the nation needs “a charter of rights in order to ensure that the very few rights we have aren’t removed.”