The Victorian government’s proposed crackdown on protests has been criticised as a severe limitation on the right to participate in demonstrations, despite being backed by some Jewish groups.
The Allan government on Tuesday announced protesting could be banned outside places of worship – while face masks and certain flags could be prohibited at other demonstrations – under proposed legislation announced in response to an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, announced a suite of legislative proposals to crack down on what she said was antisemitism and extremism at protests. This included a ban on the flags of listed terrorist organisations including Hamas, Hezbollah and white nationalist extremist groups.
“We will also legislate to thwart protests and disturbances at shules, temples, mosques, anywhere in Victoria where Victorians are simply undertaking their fundamental right of religious freedom,” the premier said.
Allan said the proposals were designed to ensure people could protest without fear or intimidation, and could include safe access zones around places of worship. The size and scope of these areas would be subject to consultation with religious leaders, communities and unions, the government said.
Allan said the state’s safe access zones around abortion clinics, where protesters are prohibited from demonstrating within 150m of such facilities, could guide the legislation.
Face masks and balaclavas would also be banned at protests, with Allan saying they were being used by some demonstrators to conceal their identities and shield them from “crowd control measures” like capsicum spray.
The police minister, Anthony Carbines, said the government would work with police on how to ensure there were exemptions for people who require face masks for health and religious reasons.
The government also flagged the use of glue, rope, chains, locks and “other dangerous attachment devices that protesters use to cause maximum disruption and also endanger others”.
Under expanded police powers, protesters could be charged for displaying flags of a listed terrorist organisation or using items like glue and rope.
Allan said the rise of reported antisemitic incidents was “unacceptable in our modern, multicultural state”.
She said authorities have “had enough of the protests that have caused division and disruption in our streets”, while insisting that the right to peaceful protest must be protected.
“It would be wrong for me to say that everyone who’s attending these protests is antisemitic,” she said.
“There’s no one saying that, but we know some are … we also know that hate and antisemitism are thriving in these environments.”
The chief executive of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Naomi Levin, said the full suite of reforms would tackle antisemitism that was “manifesting in different ways across the community.” She said they were a “good start”, but reiterated calls for a permit system for protests.
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network said the announcement was “a dangerous attack on civil liberties” and aimed at “suppressing legitimate public political action by Palestinians.”
The vice-president of Liberty Victoria, Gemma Cafarella, said the proposed crackdown amounted to a “substantial limitation on the right to protest” and that the current laws were sufficient to deal with the arson attack that occurred at the synagogue earlier this month.
The Victorian Greens said the changes would have a “chilling effect on democracy”. The party pointed to the survivors of child abuse who raised awareness of the issue by tying ribbons on the fence outside St Patrick’s cathedral in Ballarat.
“While the Greens MPs have condemned antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks, criminalising peaceful protest is not the right way to respond and sets a dangerous precedent,” the Greens said.
The announcement comes after Victoria police earlier this month said the arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea, in Melbourne’s south-east, was being treated as an act of terrorism. Police said they were searching for three suspects over the fire that occurred in the early hours of 6 December.
Anthony Albanese has previously expressed support for a ban on protests outside places of worship, which is also being considered by the New South Wales government.
