“The day of the political street march is over. Anybody who holds a street march, spontaneous or otherwise, will know they are acting illegally … don’t bother applying for a march permit. You won’t get one. That’s government policy now.” – Joh Bjelke-Petersen, 4 September 1977.
This manual is inspired by the struggle for democratic rights in Queensland where people conducted the longest defiance of a government in Australia’s history (Sept 1977 – July 1979, with the exception of Aboriginal resistance. This manual is dedicated to the 2,000 people arrested and the many others who took part in this struggle. We honour the Yugera and Torubul people on whose land these struggles were fought. Lands never ceded. All errors in this manual are mine. – Ian Curr June 2026.
Table of Contents
Not Guilty
The original manual for political defence was prepared by the Civil Liberties Coordinating Committee in a booklet called Not Guilty. This was followed a few years later by Guilt by Association.
Charge / Elements of offence
An activist may be charged with obstructing the transport of weapons parts being used in a genocide.
Here are some tips.
Firstly only the facts that are relevant to the elements of the commission of an offence(s) are permissible at trial under rules of evidence.
Therefore, it is important to work out the precise elements of the offence.
For example, obstructing an emergency worker may have the following elements (depending on the section of the act with which you are charged):
1. The complainant was an emergency worker.
2. The emergency worker was on duty.
3. The accused was using, attached to, or remained attached to a lock-on device.
4. The lock-on device obstructed the emergency worker.
5. The obstruction was intentional (Mens Rea)
6. The obstruction occurred while the emergency worker was carrying out their duty.
In an obstruct case element 5 may turn out to be the most important element.
The prosecution may argue that the mere fact of locking-on is an obstruction.
This is not really a serious argument because intention is an important element. The Latin word is mens rea. The prosecution must show that you actively prevented the emergency worker from removing the lock-on device.
–oOo–
Statement of Facts (QP9 in Queensland)
On the statement of facts, you must be quite clinical about the relevance of the prosecution case.
It is important to narrow down the statement to essential facts because the introduction of inconsistent or irrelevant facts can be used to gain judgment against you.
EXAMPLE. Take the following charge under section 52 DA(1) of the Queensland criminal code about the recital distribution publication or display of prohibited expressions:
CHARGE. “On 18 April 2026 at Brisbane City … without reasonable excuse publicly displayed a prohibited expression in a way that might reasonably be expected to cause a member of the public to feel menaced, harassed or offended …”
ELEMENTS of the offence — s 52DA(1) Criminal Code (Qld).
1. The defendant publicly recited, publicly distributed, published, or publicly displayed an expression;
2. The expression was a prohibited expression;
3. The recital, distribution, publication or display was in a way that might reasonably be expected to cause a member of the public to feel:
– menaced; or
– harassed; or
– offended;
4. The conduct occurred in Queensland;
5. The defendant did so without reasonable excuse.
Please note that in the pro former facts provided by the prosecution, police claim the defendant was given a warning. The legislation does not require a warning. In this case a warning may be an attempt by the police to shore up one element of the offence: “a member of the public was likely to feel menace harassed or offended.”
At the demonstration there was a lot of noise because police were confiscating speaking equipment at the time of the arrest and the warning either was not given or the defendant did not hear. That offended in this case suffered from industrial deafness.
Remember The Golden rule: The prosecution must prove ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ each and every element of the offence.
QUESTION. The informant’s statement contains many facts unrelated to the charges and some falsehoods. How do I prevent the informant’s statement from being admitted as evidence as is?
One method is to ask the magistrate to conduct a voir dire. So you make an application before the prosecution begins its case for a determination by the magistrate of what evidence is relevant to the elements of the offence. The aim is to exclude irrelevant prejudicial material.
This can be a tricky tactic because the magistrate is an adjudicator of all the facts. S/he sees all the irrelevant material and may be biased by them. A Voir Dire is used mainly in jury trials so the jury is not influenced by irrelevant and prejudicial material.
Another method that one may employ is to argue with the prosecutor that all the irrelevant and prejudicial material must be expunged from the charge before it is presented to the court at trial.
PREPARATION. Before going to trial, draw up a table or a spreadsheet with each of the elements of the offence and the facts that are relevant to each element. Put in the table questions of each witness that undermine the prosecution’s case in support of each element. Police will try to bolster their case by introducing extraneous or preducial material .
Bear in mind the real obstruction is by the police and courts preventing ligitimate political protest.
Evidence
One of the most important aspects of conducting your own defence is understanding the basics of evidence and cross-examining witnesses.
A self-represented defendant is usually given some latitude by the magistrate or judge. The court will often assist with procedural matters and may help clarify the form of a question. However, the rules of evidence still apply, and it is important to prepare carefully before the hearing.
Come to court with a list of the questions you need to ask in order to expose contradictions, omissions or weaknesses in the police or Crown case. Think about the facts you need the witness to admit and the points you need to establish.
A fundamental rule of cross-examination is to ask only one question at a time. Keep your questions short, clear and precise. Do not combine several issues into a single question. The purpose is to obtain a definite answer to a single fact before moving on to the next point.
By proceeding one fact at a time, you build the narrative you want the court to understand. You also avoid giving the witness an opportunity to claim that the question is confusing, vague or impossible to answer. Clear, simple questions are usually far more effective than long and complicated ones.
Only ask questions when you know the answer.
One further traditional piece of cross-examination advice is don’t ask a question unless you know why you’re asking it and what answer you expect to receive. A witness can sometimes do more damage to your case on cross-examination than on their evidence-in-chief if they are given room to expand on their story.
Commonwealth versus State
Commonwealth control over airport land does not displace the operation of state law, and private corporate ownership does not automatically extinguish public assembly protections.
Always was …
Chanting and wearing banned expressions
A small number of Queensland police were in attendance at the airport on return of global sumud flotilla activists. On one occasion a person wore one of the phrases banned on her t-shirt. On another occasion, there was some chanting of ‘from the river ███████████████████ [Redacted under Queensland Government directive (2026)
There were no arrests. I am guessing, but I think the reason for this is twofold:
Firstly, we outnumbered the three police present 25 to 1.
Secondly, the enforcement of this law is selective and therefore political.
I give my analysis of the legal questions at play below:
COMMONWEALTH PLACES (APPLICATION OF LAWS) ACT 1970 – SECT 4
Application of laws in Commonwealth places
(1) The provisions of the laws of a State as in force at a time (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) apply, or shall be deemed to have applied, in accordance with their tenor, at that time in and in relation to each place in that State that is or was a Commonwealth place at that time.
I have not attached the whole section, but on my reading, there is no exemption, and s52D of the Queensland Criminal law will apply.
Anyone uttering these phrases at the airport may be arrested and conveyed to the Brisbane City Watchouse and subsequently brought before a magistrate at the Roma Street arrest court.
How such individual actions advance the ‘Not our Law’ campaign is a political question for organised political groups to determine. However, our strength so far has been our ability to take organised collective action in defiance of these laws.
People in attendance should be aware that despite the airport being owned by a private unlisted company, police powers re trespass, protests, etc are still subject to assembly protections because it is a ‘public place’ under under Qld’s unique Peaceful Assembly Act 1992.
Always will be, Aboriginal Land!