The Queensland government has attacked the Palestine movement against genocide in Australia. Specifically the government has targeted the right of Justice for Palestine Magandjin to organise. The ABC has framed this as an attack on the civil liberties of the individual.
The premise of the ABC’s Steve Austin’s interview is incorrect. Firstly there is no such thing as seeking approval from the Brisbane City Council under the Peaceful Assembly Act 1992. It is not a permit system it is a notification system. Any group wishing to exercise their right to assembly in say King George Square fulfill all their requirements under the law by notifying council. There is some ambiguity because council has insisted that King George Square falls under its own rules that apply to malls. This too is incorrect. King George Square is NOT A MALL. Under the Peaceful Assembly Act 1992 KGSq is a public place where people assemble or walk-through ‘as of right‘. It is unclear as to the relation between the Brisbane city mall and the Peaceful Assembly Act 1992 because there has been no definitive ruling on that in the courts.
Peaceful Assembly Act 1992
s5 Right of peaceful assembly
(1) A person has the right to assemble peacefully with others in a public place.
(2) The right is subject only to such restrictions as are necessary
and reasonable in a democratic society in the interests of—
(a) public safety; or
(b) public order; or
(c) the protection of the rights and freedoms of other persons.
(3) In subsection (2)(c), a reference to the rights of persons includes a reference to—
(a) the rights of members of the public to enjoy the natural environment; and
(b) the rights of persons to carry on business.
(4) Nothing in this section limits the power of a local authority to regulate pedestrian malls, but the power is subject to the right mentioned in subsection (1).
Steve Austin also has his history incorrect. The 1985 SEQEB dispute was not a strike, it was a lock-out by the Queensland government by sacking 1002 SEQEB workers including linesman and cable jointers. The government introduced legislation the Queensland Electricity (Continuity of Supply) Act 1985. The Human Rights Commission issued a report critically examined the legislation and concluded that the Act breached the principle of freedom of association. This finding reflected the view that the law severely restricted the rights of workers to organize and take collective action. Regardless none of the workers god they called jobs back and many did not receive their full entitlements.
The Queensland governmet’s ban on street marches occurred on 4 September 1977 when Joh Bjelke-Petersen infamously declared ‘the day of the political street march is over’. There was no in legislation introduced merely a regulation change that the appeal from refusal of the right to barge March would be to the police commissioner and not to a magistrate. The Queensland government had the corrupt police commissioner Terry Lewis in their pocket and from 4 Sept 1977 – July 1979 Lewis refused political street marches and deployed up to 1000 police to prevent such marches making over 3000 arrests.
Antisemitism
Finally, Steve Austin, why do you think Palestinians are antisemitic? Do you really think this is a serious proposition or are you saying this because it is station policy to ignore the genocide and hasbara put out by zionists in your own organisation? I refer here to former board member Ita Buttrose. Have you already forgotten that the ABC was fined for unlawfully sacking Antoinette Lattouf for opposing the genocide in Gaza? Have you been got at by the Israel lobby or are you simply fearful for losing your job at the hands of Zionist management? And what of your colleagues failure to support Ms Lattouf? Do you really wish to throw your lot in with lightweight politicians like David Crisafuli?
Ian Curr, editor WBT 25 April 2026
ABC interview with Remah Naji, 24 April 2026 on banning phrases ‘from the river ███████████████████ [Redacted under Queensland Government directive (2026.
SPEAKERS
Remah Naji – Justice for Palestine Magandjin, Steve Austin ABC 612 4QR
Steve Austin ABC: It’s a quarter to 10 on 612 ABC, but you can send us a text message: 046792612. So let’s go to my next guest ahead of the 10 o’clock news. I am in Queen Street Mall today, a place where business gathers, retailers trade, architecture stands, people meet – like many city centers over time. It’s also a place of protest, of which Brisbane has a strong background and history. Protests in Queensland’s capital have a history that were famously banned by a previous Premier, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, in the ’70s around the Springbok tour [sic], and 1985 around the SEQEB strikes. Today, protests require approval [sic] from the Brisbane City Council under what’s called the Peaceful Assembly Act. But now the state government, through Premier David Crisafulli, has banned phrases. You may have heard me interview Terry O’Gorman from the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties a little while back, heavily questioning the wisdom of that. It impacts what Queenslanders can say at protests. So I’m joined by Remah Naji. Remah is spokesperson for Justice for Palestine Magandjin. Thanks very much for coming along. Remah, good to see you.
Remah Naji: Thank you. Thanks, Steve.
Steve Austin ABC: So protesting has a colorful and checkered history in the CBD. How has that changed over time from your perspective?
Remah Naji: Yeah, thanks, Steve. My name is Remah Naji from Justice for Palestine. I’m also a Palestinian. I think the obvious example is what you cited during the era of Joh Bjelke-Petersen, when they tried to crack down on the right to protest, and what they found is that tens of thousands of people defied this ban – more than 2,000 people got arrested at the time. It started in 1967 and then again another wave in 1978 and 1979, and what they saw is that this ban, or this attempt to legislate movements out of existence, actually emboldened people. And in one day alone, 412 (418) people got arrested. And eventually those laws were repealed, and people proved to the government that you cannot crack down on the right of people to protest.
Steve Austin ABC: And also another example in established legal right – today, isn’t it? Established legal right?
Remah Naji: Absolutely. And here in Queensland, not just the Peaceful Assembly Act but also under the Human Rights Act. And the Queensland Government in the 1970s and the 1980s – let’s just remember that members of the Queensland Government were in support of the apartheid South African regime. And if we ask anyone here in the mall, any serious person would tell you that obviously apartheid was wrong. The Queensland Government was wrong at the time; the Queensland Government is wrong this time. And we talk about apartheid Israel. There is an established movement here in Magandjin, so-called Brisbane, that talks about the rights of people to live with freedom and with dignity. And again, in the same way that these laws were repealed in the 1970s and 1980s, they are going to be repealed again. In fact, some of the people who got arrested on Saturday were also arrested at that time, and they are not afraid to do it again, because certainly they didn’t protest Joh Bjelke-Petersen to have this done again in this day and age.
Steve Austin ABC: So what you’re telling me is that governments that try and suppress people’s desire to be heard end up creating the opposite effect of what they intend.
Remah Naji: Absolutely. And I think we’re talking about people who care about human rights and justice, but at the same time, these are people who would not allow our own government to be a party to genocide. Let’s remember that this government – Australia – there is a direct link between this government and the act of genocide that is being perpetrated by apartheid Israel, and this is through weapons exports. So not only do we refuse for war crimes to happen, we also refuse for our own government to be facilitating genocide.
Steve Austin ABC: My guest is Remah Naji, spokesperson for Justice for Palestine. This is 612 ABC Brisbane. You’re a pro-Palestinian activist. How do you see the current climate of conversation, of debate concerning race and ideology?
Remah Naji: Yeah, that’s a really interesting question. And I actually take issue with the words “pro-Palestine.” I am Palestinian, and when we talk about “pro-Palestine,” there is almost an impression that there is an equivalency here between what is happening to Palestinians and the State of Israel – apartheid Israel – which is perpetrating the violence against Palestinians who are under occupation and undergoing genocide. So I refuse for this to be called a pro-Palestine movement. It is an anti-genocide movement. And when we talk about Palestine, it is important to put things in their correct context. There is an active genocide happening, perpetrated by apartheid Israel. This is state violence, and also the laws of apartheid Israel discriminate against Palestinians, even within what is now known as Israel.
There are more than 50 laws that discriminate against Palestinians within that area. Now, if we look at the West Bank and Gaza, there is obviously – I mean, the International Court of Justice ruled in July 2024 that the presence of Israel in the Palestinian territory is unlawful, which then means that our government is obligated under international law to cut all ties with Israel and to enforce international law to happen, which means that Israel needs to end its presence in the Palestinian territories. Now, just a couple of weeks ago, I just want to remind the listeners that Israel actually passed laws that make the death penalty the default sentence against Palestinians – Palestinians only. I mean, this is racism, this is apartheid. And when we talk about Palestine, we really need to put things in their correct context.
Steve Austin ABC: My guest is Remah Naji. The state government has made changes to our – inverted commas – hate speech laws, specifically banning phrases ‘from the river ███████████████████ [Redacted under Queensland Government directive (2026)and “globalize’ ███████████████████ [Redacted under Queensland Government directive (2026)” Now, you know, these are highly contested phrases. So what do you make of the state moves? We’ve constantly tried to get the Attorney-General onto the program to explain their thinking – they’re now sitting in state parliament, but trying to get a detailed explanation, we’ve not been successful. What do you as a Palestinian feel about the banning of those two phrases because they’re highly contested?
Remah Naji: Well, you just said it yourself: they are highly contested, which means that those phrases have history in the Palestinian struggle for liberation. And Professor Anne Toomey probably said it best when she said phrases cannot be determined by those who oppose them. So you can’t really say that phrases like “between the two bodies of water” – I’m actually not sure if I can say them; I might get arrested. This is how absurd these laws are – that I can’t on a live interview say those banned phrases without risking getting arrested. Of course, I am against the banning of words when actual killing is occurring against my own people. And I have every right to advocate for equal rights and freedoms for people who are under genocide and who are experiencing apartheid by apartheid Israel. And when we are talking about Palestine, when we talk about people who oppose calls for equality and freedom, I think there’s a phrase that all of us need to start saying and using here, which is: this is called equality phobia. If people have issues with calls for equality and freedoms, I think this is an indictment on them.
Steve Austin ABC: Justice for Palestine is coordinating a High Court challenge to the Queensland state law on the basis that it’s invalid under the Constitution. How is it invalid under our Constitution?
Remah Naji: It goes against our implied rights – the freedom of political communication – and this is protected under the Australian Constitution.
Steve Austin ABC: That’s right, okay. Does banning phrases then impinge on free speech?
Remah Naji: Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, we’re talking about – I was interviewed just a couple of days ago, and the journalist couldn’t even say the banned phrase. This is how they impinge upon our freedoms to even communicate a message in an interview, in a live interview.
Steve Austin ABC: So do you regard them as anti-Semitic?
Remah Naji: How is calling for equality and freedoms for people anti-Semitic?
Steve Austin ABC: Because depending on your perspective, saying “from the river ███████████████████ [Redacted under Queensland Government directive (2026)” – the implied statement is, “we want to wipe a people out and push them into the sea.” That’s the side that sees it as an implied statement of “we want to bring genocide.”
Remah Naji: That’s an interesting take, given that the Israeli Likud party has this in their charter. They have “from the river ███████████████████ [Redacted under Queensland Government directive (2026)” in their charter. So are you also saying that they’re anti-Semitic and they’re calling for genocide of the Palestinian people?
Steve Austin ABC: I’m not saying anything. I’m asking you. I wanted to know from you how you see these phrases. Are they anti-Semitic phrases? Because to some – but not to you – but to some people, they see them as a call for genocide. You’re worried about genocide, but it can be inversed as well. It can be flipped.
Remah Naji: Well, there’s an actual genocide occurring, perpetrated by apartheid Israel. And also, interestingly, the first person who got arrested on Saturday who said the banned phrase is a Jewish person who refused for these words – or for the Israeli government and for our own government – to enact laws against people who are calling for equality in their name.
Steve Austin ABC: So you don’t see them as anti-Semitic? Absolutely not.
Remah Naji: I don’t see any basis for that whatsoever. Absolutely not. And I also want to say something really important, because I was at the public hearing about these laws when they were at the time a bill, and the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies were present at the time, and they said that despite the fact that the movement keeps distinguishing between the acts of apartheid Israel and the Jewish community – they did acknowledge that we always say this: we do not conflate between the actions of apartheid Israel and the Jewish community here. However, if you look at their submission, they are the ones conflating between the actions of apartheid Israel and Judaism as a religion. I refuse this conflation. No matter how much propaganda is spread, me as a Palestinian, I have a clear distinction between the actions of apartheid Israel. It is a miracle that Israel is currently genociding my people, and I still refuse for my anger to be directed at a religious group. However, what the Jewish Board of Deputies said at the time: they said that they believe Australians can’t make that distinction. So they’d rather – basically saying Australians are dumb.
Steve Austin ABC: I had a conversation with someone recently about anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. How do you distinguish the difference between the two?
Remah Naji: Yeah, look, my issue, of course, is with Zionism, which is a political ideology. Zionism is the political ideology behind what is now called the State of Israel. This is a political project that is basically based on the replacement and displacement of the native population of Palestine. And this is, according to Israeli historians, out of their own mouth.
Steve Austin ABC: So what does that mean for you as a Palestinian in Australia? Do you acknowledge Israel’s right to exist?
Remah Naji: In international law, there is nothing like the right of states to exist. What is established in international law is the right of people to exist. So I support the right of everyone in the geographical area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea to live with equal rights and freedoms.
Steve Austin ABC: I’m not sure if you’re splitting hairs on me. So you don’t see the nation-state of Israel has a right to exist – just the people who exist there?
Remah Naji: Look, the nation-state is basically a very recent concept, and again, international law. So I don’t believe in the right of states to exist. I think everyone should have the right to live with equal rights and freedoms. And this is what everyone should talk about right now. And also, you’re talking about the right of Israel to exist. Israel already exists. Let’s talk about the rights of people who are being discriminated against within this geographical area, and their right to live with equal rights and freedoms. Again, they shouldn’t be experiencing apartheid. They should not be experiencing illegal occupation, and certainly there needs to be no violations of international law. This is what everyone should be talking about right now.
Steve Austin ABC: Where is your court case at in the High Court of Australia?
Remah Naji: Still in the very initial phases, and we’re going to be announcing more details within the next couple of weeks.
Steve Austin ABC: Appreciate it. I know you’ve made a special trip down this morning, so I appreciate you coming along. Thank you.
Remah Naji: Thank you.
Steve Austin ABC: That’s Remah Naji, spokesperson for Justice for Palestine. This is 612 ABC Brisbane.