A WA Greens staffer and activist who was fined over a planned protest at the home of former Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill has had a ban on entering the Land Forces Expo overturned after threatening legal action.
asserted
ban → fin → action
Matilda Lane-Rose was one of several people, including Rising Tide and Disrupt Burrup Hub activist Will Shanahan, who were placed on an exclusion list by WA Police barring them from entering the area around the Perth Exhibition and Convention Centre where the defence expo is being held this week.
asserted
expo → include → Exhibition
The Human Rights Law Centre and SCALES Community Legal Centre threatened to take Lane-Rose’s exclusion to the Supreme Court over the weekend, prompting WA Police to overturn her ban, and raising questions about the thresholds used by police to determine the exclusion list.
asserted
Centre → threaten → list
On Friday, WA Police Minister Reece Whitby said the bar had been set “very high to be an excluded person, and for very good reason”.
asserted
bar → say → reason
“We don’t want to see violence.
asserted
We → want → violence
We don’t want to see people at risk, and that is the basis on which people are being excluded,” he said.
asserted
he → want → which
WA Police were approached for comment.
asserted
Police → approach → comment
Land Forces is Australia’s biggest defence expo, with senior members of the nation’s defence force and academia attending alongside major international weapons manufacturers.
asserted
members → attend → manufacturers
About 10,000 overseas and interstate visitors are predicted to stream through the expo’s doors between October 6 and 8.
asserted
visitors → predict → October
WA Premier Roger Cook said the 2024 Victorian event injected about $100 million into the local economy, and predicted a similar windfall for the western capital.
asserted
event → say → capital
However, the Cook government has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid the ugly scenes that occurred outside the 2024 Melbourne expo, where protesters clashed with police.
asserted
protesters → go → police
The response included $11.5 million for a huge security operation to enforce a separate act of parliament giving police powers to ban people from entering a security zone around the convention centre.
asserted
response → include → centre
Lane-Rose, 22, was fined $2000 and granted a spent conviction last year after being arrested alongside other Disrupt Burrup Hub activists as they attempted to chain themselves to a gate and throw paint on O’Neill’s western suburbs home in 2023.
asserted
they → fin → 2023
The arrest was filmed by an ABC Four Corners crew, which was working on a story about climate activism, and Perth Magistrates Court heard the activists had been captured on CCTV scoping out the home 72 hours before their planned protest.
asserted
activists → film → protest
Lane-Rose, alongside co-accused Jesse Noakes, Gerard Mazza and Emil Davey, all pleaded guilty to attempted trespass and attempted unlawful damage.
asserted
Rose → accuse → trespass
Lane-Rose now works as a staffer for the WA Greens and is a law student.
asserted
Rose → work → Greens
Penalties for breaching the Land Forces bans could reach three years in jail and more than $30,000 in fines.
uncertain
Penalties → breach → fines
On Monday morning, Cook said he wasn’t aware of anyone being removed from the exclusion list but was confident the police bans would stand up to any scrutiny.
“Ultimately, it’s the responsibility of the police to allow the Land Forces conference to go ahead, and we want them to do the best they can,” he said.
asserted
he → say → best
“We want people to protest if that’s what they consider is important.
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they → want → ?
This is democracy; they have the right to protest.
asserted
they → have → right
It’s just important they do it respectfully and safely.”
asserted
they → ’ → it
The WA Anti-War Collective will protest the event on Tuesday with a march through the city from Yagan Square to Elizabeth Quay.
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Collective → protest → Quay
WA Greens MLC Sophie McNeill previously said people like Lane-Rose did not meet the threshold of posing a serious threat to the community.
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people → say → community
McNeill has participated in several protests since becoming an MP, including two separate rallies outside the US Consulate.
asserted
McNeill → participate → Consulate
She was granted permission to enter the event.
asserted
She → grant → event
The Aporia
