The Queensland police service will take protest organisers to court in an effort to halt a planned pro-Palestine march over Brisbane’s Story Bridge this weekend.
Justice for Palestine Magan-djin (Brisbane) have advertised plans to march over the bridge at 1pm on Sunday – replicating similar protests that occurred earlier this month in Sydney and Melbourne.
Spokesperson for Justice for Palestine Magan-djin Remah Naji said the group is expecting at least 7,000 people to attend the rally. The Queensland police oppose the march on public safety grounds.
“Under provisions of the peaceful assembly act, police will lodge documentation with Brisbane magistrates court for a decision to be made with respect to the notice of intention to hold a public assembly,” a spokesperson for the Queensland police service said.
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The matter is yet to be given a date of listing.
A cycling group was denied the right to march or ride over the bridge earlier this year at a hearing at the magistrates court on public safety grounds.
Naji said the march organisers had already briefed lawyers and were ready for a legal fight.
“We’re very much willing to defend our fundamental right to peaceful assembly. If they want to go down this path, we’re ready,” she said.
Police in New South Wales sought to deny legal protection to a planned protest over the Sydney Harbour Bridge earlier this month – but that bid was overturned by the NSW supreme court at the 11th hour.
Police say 90,000 people marched across that iconic structure, organisers put the figure at closer to 300,000 – regardless, the scale of the turnout ranks the protest as historic and the day went ahead without major incidents.
In Melbourne on the same day, in contrast, pro-Palestine protesters were met by a wall of police in riot gear behind barricades and backed by a row of mounted officers and riot squad vans when they sought to cross the King Street Bridge.
Justice for Palestine Magan-djin conducted mediation with Queensland police on Monday morning. QPS presented two options to the protest group for locations other than the bridge.
A spokesperson for the QPS confirmed that mediation had taken place on Monday morning “however an agreement could not be met”.
Naji didn’t rule out violating a court injunction if the magistrates court ruled against them, saying it would be a decision for the group collectively.
She said the bridge was a central part of the protest because the urgency of the situation in Gaza.
“This ongoing livestreamed genocide demands visibility. It is not enough for us to do the usual routes,” Naji said.
She said the aim of the march was “to apply the maximum pressure on our government”.
Justice for Palestine Magan-djin has been holding regular protests in Brisbane for the last 22 months since the escalation of the conflict in Gaza after Israel responded to Hamas’ attack on 7 October 2023 with a full-scale invasion, bombardment and blockade of aid in the Gaza Strip.
More than 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza – mostly women, children and elderly people – since the war began, according to Palestinian health officials.
– With additional reporting by Joe Hinchliffe
