Legislative Council: Thursday, May 18, 2023

Contents

Right to Protest

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:55): Would these laws have covered the Black Lives Matter protests during COVID, when laws were broken—not that I had any objection to it?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:55): I thank the honourable member for his question. If I remember correctly, during those protests there was a police presence. I might stand corrected, but I think that at the time an exemption was given for those protests by the police commissioner, but I will double-check that. Certainly, the intention is not expanding the scope of what has been covered by section 58 of the Summary Offences Act in the past.