(Archbishop Anthony Fisher. Picture: AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi)
Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher has criticised some judges and activists for treating the freedom to protest as a “trumping power” over all other rights, enshrining weekly pro-Palestine protests above the common good, social cohesion and the security of the country.
Dr Fisher’s speech to the Samuel Griffith Society on Sunday followed Federal Court judge Ian Jackman’s call to revisit the implied freedom of political communication, revealing in a Q&A session he was confident the High Court would see a “lot of merit” in One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s bid to appeal her racial discrimination case.
Dr Fisher’s after-dinner address touched on these issues and questioned whether the courts had upheld the freedom to protest above all other rights, causing harm to the Jewish community and intimidating religious gatherings.
Noting that weekly pro-Palestine protests were mostly held on Sundays in Hyde Park outside St Mary’s Cathedral, his own congregation, Dr Fisher suggested Australia had become “drunk on the notion of protest” and failed to balance free speech with other freedoms “central to the common good”.
“The speeches and chants, placards and flyers have regularly strayed into attacks on all Israelis, all Jews or all Western nations for their supposed complicity or shared guilt,” Dr Fisher said.
“That these regulars do not decry (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s adventures in the Ukraine or other supposed invasions and genocides, week after week at my place or elsewhere, makes me wonder how much this is driven not by a love for peace and freedom but by old-fashioned antisemitism.
Dr Fisher said he regarded peaceful protest as a key pillar of liberal democracy; however, he expressed concern that the widely acknowledged limits on free speech were being devalued.
“The recent rhetoric of some activists and even some judges suggests that political communication has a presumptive priority or trumping power over many or all other rights, no matter how it is exercised,” he said.
“After almost three years of this experience, I think it is high time to ask whether we have the balance right between freedom of political communication, now recognised as implied in our Constitution, and other fundamental freedoms, including the freedom to gather and worship in peace.”
The senior Catholic leader has previously criticised the recurring pro-Palestine protests held between St Mary’s and the Great Synagogue.
Standing alongside Anthony Albanese, NSW Premier Chris Minns and Jewish leaders at a memorial service held days after the Bondi Beach terror attack last year, Dr Fisher said the unchecked use of inflammatory messages “must stop”.
Having opposed the government’s hate speech laws in January in a letter signed by fellow Christian and Muslim leaders, Dr Fisher narrowed his argument on the implied freedom of political communication to the issue of public protests.
He pointed to the NSW Court of Appeals’ decision in April to strike down the Minns government’s temporary anti-protest laws, which were deemed unconstitutional.
An earlier attempt to give police move-on powers outside places of worship also was struck down by the NSW Supreme Court following a challenge by the Palestine Action Group. The state government passed narrower legislation so police could issue move-on orders to people harassing, blocking or intimidating people from entering places of worship.
Dr Fisher, who practised as a solicitor before entering the Dominican Order, said these recent examples suggested NSW was not accommodating the freedom to protest with “other goods necessary in a free society”.
The NSW parliament successfully criminalised protesting and communications outside abortion facilities and this was upheld by the High Court, proving the issue had been managed in the past.
“So, if the right to protest is not absolute and the courts are willing to limit this freedom in certain circumstances, why has it appeared impossible in recent years, especially in relation to anti-Israel demonstrations?” he asked.
In concluding his speech, Dr Fisher said Australia had to balance implied freedoms which by design could “easily stray” into the territory where the interests and ideologies of one group were imposed “upon everyone else”.
Security, religious association and the common good had to be valued to recover democracy and the rule of law, he said.
The speech came after Justice Jackman gave his own address on the implied freedom of political communication, as reported in The Australian.
In a Q&A session held after the speech, Justice Jackman was asked whether Australia should import the US right to free speech model amid concerns there was too much room for subjectivity in the Constitution.
Justice Jackman said Australia “simply can’t sit” with the current uncertainty in the law, pointing to Senator Hanson’s bid to seek leave from the High Court in her racial discrimination case against Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi.
The Federal Court dismissed Senator Hanson’s initial appeal, rejecting her argument that section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act breached the implied freedom of political communication.
Justice Jackman said he was reasonably confident Senator Hanson had a strong case as there were “so many” inconsistent decisions on the issue of offensive speech, which he argued must be “sorted out”.