USYD professor arrested at protest

The violent arrest of Professor Simon Rice at a student rally at the University of Sydney in October, and the subsequent outcry over the unnecessary and harsh treatment of him and others, appears to have been a catalyst for the NSW police to improve their approach to policing public gatherings. Professor Rice, who teaches law at the University, wasn’t participating in the rally, but observing it as some of his students are researching the laws on protesting. The rally was opposing the federal government’s changes to higher education funding. When the rally moved on to the footpath outside the university campus, the police, who had previously seemed content to watch the protestors but not intervene, began roughly restraining students and taking their banners and megaphones. At this point Professor Rice was grabbed from behind, taken to a corner and had his legs swept out from underneath him. He was arrested and fined for breaching a COVID Public Health Order. The rally occurred two days after the NTEU had successfully won a NSW Supreme Court decision that upheld the right to protest in a COVID-safe way, against police objections. The NTEU NSW Division’s rally was held the day before the student protest, with police attending but without incident.

It begs the question whether the over-the-top treatment of the student protesters and those in the vicinity was the police venting their frustration at the Supreme Court decision. Professor Rice told Advocate that the Public Health Order had now changed to allow for protest gatherings, and that the police approach appears to have also softened. He said that another University of Sydney student rally at the end of October resulted in students occupying the Chancellery building, but the police acted very differently on that occasion. Professor Rice said that there are still major concerns about the consistency of the police approach, pointing out that much larger numbers of people than had attended any of the protest rallies had attended a football match or gone to the beach without COVID-related police action. 'The police still have discretionary powers under the COVID-19 restrictions to determine whether separate groups of people are considered one gathering for a "common purpose", which still can be inconsistently applied. As well they always have summary arrest powers for offensive language or disrupting traffic.' 'The police’s conduct makes you wonder who is making the decision about these issues, and where the police’s directions are coming from.' ◆ Michael Evans, Organiser (Media & Engagement)

Below: Professor Rice is forced to the ground (at right) during his arrest (Honi Soit/Twitter)

NTEU secures right to protest

In October, NSW members held a physically distanced protest against the Federal Government’s destructive higher education agenda. To be COVID-safe, the rally was limited to five groups of no more than 19 members per group. Each group had its own marshal and was physically distanced from the other groups of members. Attendees were required to wear a mask and maintain social distancing and had to register beforehand and adhere to a COVID-safe checklist. Despite all this and after extensive negotiations, NSW Police denied permits for the rally and sought an order from the NSW Supreme Court to prohibit it from taking place. 'It’s extremely worrying that NSW police, with the apparent backing of the NSW Liberal Government, have seen COVID-19 as an opportunity to unnecessarily ban all protest,' said NSW Division Secretary Michael Thomson. 'We don’t need police intervention to beat this virus, we need a sensible approach that balances risk with democratic principles.' George Newhouse, Director and Principal Solicitor of the National Justice Project, represented the NTEU in the NSW Supreme Court. He added: 'The right to protest can be protected in a COVID-safe manner. When the NSW Government is allowing as many as 10,000 people to attend football matches in a COVID-safe way, there is no excuse to prevent citizens from expressing their freedom of speech in socially-distanced rallies.' After a long day in court, NSW Police arguments were rejected, clearing the way for the rally to proceed. This fantastic win set a crucial precedent and only a couple of weeks later the NSW Government changed restrictions to permit rallies of up to 500 people. ◆ Richard Bailey, NSW Comms and Campaigns Organiser