New laws give police power to unmask protesters and ban terror symbols
Police have gained new powers to tackle unruly protesters — while thugs who attack retail workers face five years in jail — after a major suite of laws aimed at tackling the crime crisis passed Victoria’s parliament.
New police powers to unmask protesters have passed parliament amid a major suite of broader justice reforms aimed at curbing violent and unruly city demonstrations.
The new laws passed in the early hours of Wednesday morning after hours of debate in a late night sitting of the upper house.
Once given royal assent police will have the power to order protesters who they believe have committed or intend to commit an offence at a public protest to remove face coverings.
Fines of more than $1,000 will apply for those who refuse to comply with the direction which can be given even after protests have ended.
Protesters will also be banned from using attachment devices to lock on at public protests with maximum sentences of up to a year in jail for those breaching the law.
The protest crackdown falls well short of laws the state Opposition failed to push through the parliament in August.
They would have established a new protest registration scheme to help police better manage protests and given the Supreme Court the explicit power to ban problem protesters from attending events, or block protests from going ahead altogether.
Protesters who repeatedly defied move on directions would have faced up to two years in jail, and it would have been a jailable offence to wear a face covering at protests.
But those proposals were criticised by Premier Jacinta Allan who said they directly contradicted advice of police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush.
Other reforms to pass parliament overnight included a new state based ban on the public display of symbols used by terrorist organisations including extremist flags and insignia used by groups.
“Symbols of terrorist organisations have no place in Victoria,” police minister Anthony Carbines said.
“These symbols represent racist, violent and hateful ideologies and their public display can cause profound distress, fear and harm to members of targeted groups in Victoria. The display of these symbols can also encourage others to engage in acts of violence and vilification.”
Mr Carbines said while a Commonwealth offence to publicly display a symbol of a terrorist organisation already existed, there was no state based equivalent.
He said the new Victorian law would be easier to prosecute than the federal alternative.
“The new offence will therefore provide an effective prevention and enforcement framework for Victoria Police to address the public display of symbols of terrorist organisations in Victoria,” he said.
New offences, punishable by jail of up to three months, will also be created for disturbing religious worship.
And PSOs will be given more powers to perform hospital and crime scene guarding duties, freeing up police to get back on the beat.
Corrections minister Enver Erdogan told parliament no broad consultation had occurred before making the changes to PSO powers.
But he said the government did consult with the police association, who were opposed to the redeployment of PSOs.
Liberal MP, Nick McGowan, slammed the lack of consultation on such an important change to PSO powers.
“It is the biggest fundamental change to the way in which the PSOs operate,” he said.
“It is basically replacing police, as my colleagues opposite and to my left-hand side have stated.
“With 12 weeks of training, you are now going to put them in hospital settings – in medical settings, that is, under the act – and you are going to put them in jailhouses.
“You are going to put them in shopping centres with their 12 weeks of training.
“There has been no consultation with the nurses union and no consultation with the doctors representative body.”
Retail worker laws pass
New laws to crackdown on retail worker attacks have passed parliament ahead of the expected Christmas rush.
Once the laws received royal assent thugs who attack retail workers will face jail terms of up to five years.
Lower level assaults, including intimidating workers with insulting language, would also carry penalties of up to six months in jail.
And ram-raids on shopfronts would also attract new jail terms of up to 25 years.
“We’ve listened to workers, unions and industry, and these laws respond directly to the disturbing rise in abuse and violence in workplaces across Victoria,” Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny said.
“Every Victorian deserves to be safe at work. These laws strengthen protections and we’ll continue that work with Workplace Protection Orders.”
The government has vowed to legislate Workplace Protection Orders, allowing retailers to ban offenders from their stores.
The scheme would operate in a similar manner to intervention orders via applications to the Magistrates Court to ban individuals identified as being violent in the workplace.
Such orders have been legislated in South Australian and the ACT, but the Allan government has launched a consultation period before drafting its own legislation.
That approach has been widely criticised by retailers and unions who urged the government to move faster to introduce the orders.
The spiralling retail crime wave was highlighted by the Herald Sun’s Stop Shop Abuse campaign, which supported businesses’ calls for tougher laws to protect shop workers.
More than 82,152 incidents of retail crime were recorded in Victoria in the past year – a 27.6 per cent increase on the previous year.
Originally published as New laws give police power to unmask protesters and ban terror symbols
Avalanche of bills Jacinta Allan is rushing through parliament
