Retiree’s strange COVID-19 protest hits legal snag
A Brisbane retiree, who has vowed to protest every day against “foolish” COVID-19 laws, now faces a maximum of five years in jail after her alleged actions in a city park resulted in charges of wilful damage and possessing a knife.
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A retiree faced court today, for the first time in her life, over a David vs Goliath fight with the Federal Government about COVID-19 signs at suburban park.
Holland Park West’s Reneanne Amelia Gale, 64, faces a maximum of five years’ jail and thousands of dollars in fines for cutting down COVID-19 signs at Glindemann Park.
She faced Holland Park Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning charged with possessing a knife in a public place, wilfully damaging property and failing to comply with a COVID-19 public health direction.
The bizarre saga started at the little suburban park on April 23 at the height of the coronavirus lockdown.
Ms Gale quietly read a novel at the back of the court while waiting for Magistrate Simon Young to deal with other defendants facing charges ranging from serious drug offences to bashing a doctor and going armed in public.
Ms Gale pleaded guilty to all three charges and was released after her matter was adjourned.
Ms Gale told Quest Newspapers outside court that the matter started when she noticed adults using the park, including hanging around the barbecues and monkey bars.
She was struck at the inconsistency with council signs erected around the children’s play area, banning the public from using the equipment.
“I removed a sign because it was inconsistent with their (nearby adults’) behaviour,’’ she said.
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“It was like showing a child a jar of candy but saying you can’t eat any.
“I could see a personal trainer using the park with his client and I saw another man doing chin-ups on the monkey bars.
“I thought to myself: ‘This is ridiculous.’
“So I swung on the swings and then eased one sign carefully out of the ziptie and shoved it in a bin, as I didn’t want to litter.’’
Ms Gale said “a nasty little man’’ then rushed over to her and told her she should not have touched the sign.
She felt intimidated and left, but returned with one of her kitchen knives and cut the ziptie off a second COVID-19 warning sign, before throwing it in the bin as well.
Holland Park police arrived and charged her after questioning.
“It’s a protest, but I don’t believe in smashing things up or being destructive,’’ she said.
Ms Gale vowed to continue her recent daily protests, which mostly have involved entering and exiting buses by the front door (passengers must exit via the rear door, if possible).
She tells passengers and bus drivers what she is doing, in the form of reading a couplet (successive lines of verse) about her actions.
“I think the whole thing (some COVID-19 restrictions) is silly.’’