Queensland’s ‘from the river to the sea’ laws likened to Bjelke-Petersen era anti-protest regime

Health minister Tim Nicholls corrects claim alleged Bondi terror attack gunman Naveed Akram used controversial phrase, as laws roundly criticised Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Police arresting pro-Palestinian protesters for using the phrase “from the river to the sea” had “all the hallmarks of an authoritarian police state”, according to a Greens MP, amid widespread backlash against Queensland’s new hate speech laws. The controversial laws went into effect yesterday after passing a vote in parliament last week. They ban the slogans “from the river to the sea” and “globalise the intifada”, and make expressing or publishing them punishable for up to two years in prison if doing so would “menace, harass or offend”. Greens MP Michael Berkman said arrests under these laws had “all the hallmarks of an authoritarian police state, with the police all too happy to act as the thought police on behalf of the LNP state government”. The progressive Jewish Council of Australia said the term “intifada” had been “associated with violent actions in some historical contexts”, but this was “one interpretation of the term, not its inher