Recently, there has been a lot of talk in the courts and on the right-wing media about safety on bridges across Australia. There have been several judicial rulings about marchers for Palestine crossing bridges in Australian capital cities. No thanks to the authorities, ninety thousand (90,000) people marched safely across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in solidarity with Palestine. In Adelaide, over 5,000 people marched across Adelaide’s iconic bridge against genocide, for the children of Gaza and for a free Palestine. On 24 August 2025, 36,000 people marched without incident across Victoria Bridge in Brisbane Magan-djin against the genocide in Gaza and in support of government sanctions against Israel.
On 10 September 2025, while I was taking photographs of the underside of the Story Bridge, I was approached by the manager of bridge repairs that are being made to the pedestrian walkway attached to the old structure built in 1932. The Story bridge manager wanted to know what I was doing. From the outset I made it clear that I was a supporter of Palestine and of marching across the bridge. And he intimated that he was speaking in his public role as the manager of the bridge so I feel quite justified in relating his account and that of his staff.
I told him that police experts had claimed in court (on 22 August 22, 2025) that the bridge was unsafe for marchers. The bridge manager replied that he couldn’t say much, explaining “whatever the court ruled was correct.” Needless to say I was taking aback by his admission distancing himself from the decision, after all, he was the manager charged with responsibility for making the bridge safe.
From under the bridge on the Kemp place side of the river I pointed up to the pedestrian walkway and asked him: “Is it possible for people to get across from the roadway section of the bridge onto the walkway?” He reiterated that he couldn’t say much but that people would do “stupid things on the bridge.”
I do not think a maintenance engineer could be expected to be an authority on behaviour of marchers on the bridge. For one, despite several attempts there has never been a protest march across the Story bridge. I took what he said to be a reference to the bridge’s notoriety for enticing crazy behaviour. For example, I know of a group of youths daring their mate to jump from the bridge after a night of drinking. It is a long and chilling descent into the Maiwar (Brisbane). Fortunately, that person’s auntie lived nearby, and he was able to find his way to her door after a crippling dive from the bridge. Needless to say, his body was black and blue for weeks afterwards.
Sadly, there have also been quite a few suicide attempts from the bridge. On one occasion, police Sergeant John O’Gorman talked a suicidal man down from the bridge and received a Medal of Honour as a result of his heroics upon the arches. The bridge was shut down for several hours while this occurred.
The manager left, so I took another look at the bridge to find that there were guardrails of considerable height on the roadway bridge (the old structure). The pedestrian bridge (the new structure) was separated from the old structure by a steel gantry. It, too, had its own guardrails, making it highly unlikely that people would be able to cross from the roadway to pedestrian walkway or vice versa. If that were possible, then the bridge may be unsafe at any time.
The learned chief magistrate ruled otherwise. On 21 August 2025, Chief Magistrate Brassington claimed she had to accept the evidence of police experts about the likelihood of people crossing over to the pedestrian walkway deemed unsafe. On this basis, the chief magistrate refused to authorise a Notice of Intention by Justice for Palestine Magan-djin to march across the bridge on the 24th of August 2025.
As I was leaving, maintenance workers on the bridge came down to their Brisbane City Council utes, knocking off for the day. The workers, thinking my intention was to ride across the bridge, told me that I could cross the river at the Kangaroo Point Bridge further upstream. I told them that police engineers had said the bridge was unsafe for marchers supporting Palestine.
One of them exclaimed: “Police engineers? Sittin’ in their offices saying that the bridge is unsafe? Hey mate, we’ve made the bridge safe!
The bridge manager had previously told me what the workers were doing. He explained that by putting extra flooring over the existing concrete, people “will be able to use the walkway!”
Story Bridge march – is safety just a cover?
The conversation I had with Story Bridge maintenance workers and their manager, charged with making the bridge safe for pedestrians, throws into doubt the basis for the magistrates refusal to authorise a march organised by Justice for Palestine Magan-djin.
Her decision was likely a political one, than a ruling made on the Peaceful Assembly Act 1992 or on the merits of the case. Not surprisingly, the chief magistrate fell into line with the Brisbane City Council, the State government, and the Queensland Police Commissioner.
Council, government, police and judiciary are collectively in denial of the genocide and are therefor complicit in it.
Ian Curr
11 September 2025