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  • 17 hours ago
Western Australia looks unlikely to heed the calls of two senior Jewish legal figures, who have called for bans on protests around places of worship. The Attorney General has told the ABC planned changes to the state's protest laws get the balance right, between the right to protest and the right to practice religion.

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00:02It seems like this outside a Sydney synagogue last year which some of the country's top
00:07legal minds want to avoid repeating.
00:09Social cohesion would be advanced in a modest, fair and proportionate manner if protests
00:17and certain other gatherings were banned in close proximity to places of worship and schools.
00:23Not to ban political protest but rather to protect Jewish Australians from going about
00:31their worship, from gathering, from going to school.
00:34It's an idea supported in principle by WA's Jewish community.
00:38We've certainly seen protests like that outside places of worship where clearly the intention
00:44was to intimidate.
00:45But one they say isn't needed right now.
00:48WA police has been very proactive and done well in terms of keeping the peace in WA compared
00:56to other states.
00:57The New South Wales government attempted to give police the power to move protesters on
01:02from near places of worship last year but it was struck down as unconstitutional.
01:07If you had a very narrow application of the restriction that might be acceptable but it
01:13would have to be very carefully calibrated.
01:15Attorney General Tony Butte appears reluctant to go down that path saying laws drafted in
01:20the wake of the Bondi terror attack and an alleged attempted attack at Perth's Invasion Day rally
01:25strike the right balance.
01:27That bill is currently before the upper house.
01:30It would empower police to refuse protest permits in more cases including where it would be likely
01:35to promote hate towards a group based on things like their race or religion.
01:40But not every protest requires a permit.
01:43When you're trying to institute social cohesion it's really hard to use law as a mechanism
01:50because that really is dependent on police discretion and that can vary.
01:56Education is the long term solution, not policing and legislation.
02:01It's unclear when the laws are due to pass parliament.
02:05doctor-in-law.
02:05However, it can be legitimate, they do not have access to employees.
02:07In a way, these are the ones that are employed to enjoy the end.
02:10These are the ones that are quite rounded out of your life's life is to be under a perspective.
02:10These are the ones that are the ones that are the ones that feel like they are the ones that
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