Thursday, 28 November 2024

Police conduct

Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (18:09): (1336) My adjournment tonight is to the Attorney-General, and the action I seek is the establishment of an independent police ombudsman in Victoria, for one more time this parliamentary sitting year. At the Land Forces weapons fair that took place in Melbourne protestors exercised the rights that they have to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly under the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities. Those rights are also protected by the implied freedom of political communication provided under our constitution. Worryingly, at Land Forces we saw once again clear and repeated evidence of police failing to adhere to their obligations and responsibilities under human rights law. Legal observers witnessed incidents of excessive use of force by police, including rubber bullets being deployed at short range; use of tear gas, rubber bullets, OC spray and flashbangs against people attempting to move away from police lines, as well as those standing still, including people with their hands raised in the air; and whipping people with horse whips and charging horses into crowds of people who did not have room to move away, causing injuries.

Human rights advocates state:

The size, nature, or political context of a protest does not change the –

legal and human rights obligations –

obligations upon police to act lawfully.

We see evidence of operational practices of Victoria Police systematically violating human rights. For example, there is a long history of using excessive force and pepper spray. The Victorian government is currently defending a class action lawsuit over police using OC spray on protesters at the 2019 International Mining and Resources Conference. Would a potential class action from Land Forces activists find the Victorian government in contravention of our Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006?

This week we saw a draconian attempt by the New South Wales Labor government to shut down the people’s blockade of the world’s largest coal port in Newcastle. This overreach was defeated in the Supreme Court, and I send my congratulations to the heroes at Rising Tide for defending our climate and our democracy. I want to say I attended this amazing protest action, as did my colleague in this place Ms Gray-Barberio and my colleague in the other place Ms Sandell. This week we saw democracy win out. As my notice of motion this morning outlines, the way that these protests are handled is part of a growing trend, unfortunately, in Australia of disproportionate police tactics being used to stifle protest. In the face of these, what safeguards or remedies do citizens have? In Victoria, very few at the moment. In the clear and unequivocal words of the Yoorrook Justice Commission last year, the government must urgently create a purpose-built independent police oversight authority, and I urge the Attorney-General to bring this reform forward.