BY KAMALA EMANUEL
HOBART — Hobart City Council has been placed under pressure by the continuing distribution of Green Left Weekly in the Elizabeth Street Mall, despite a ban upheld by the council on November 26.
The intent behind the motion passed at the council meeting — restating a by-law preventing people from offering anything for sale without a permit — was clearly to refuse permission for the distribution of GLW in the mall.
Councillor Eva Ruzicka, arrested a decade ago supporting the right of the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group to a Salamanca stall, argued GLW's distribution in the mall was not about free speech, but "selfishness". She told the council that if GLW was granted a permit, there would be a "barrage" of "hawkers" in the mall.
She joined John Freeman, arch-conservative ex-mayor and prominent campaigner against the TGLRG's right to a stall, in voting for the motion. Freeman argued that opposition to the motion was "political correctness gone mad", and that "we [Hobart City Council] are allowed to regulate our own property in whatever way we see fit".
Three councillors voted against the motion on the grounds of defending free speech — Patsy Jones, Jamieson Allam and Jeff Briscoe. Briscoe has pledged to fight for GLW to be granted a permit.
The dispute started in February, when GLW sellers were told they needed to apply for permits in order to sell in the mall. An application for a permit, lodged by this newspaper in July, has not yet been approved or rejected. However, after it was lodged, GLW sellers distributed the paper mostly unhindered until November 16, when the council called the police to remove sellers from the mall.
GLW has been distributed in the mall for more than a decade and distribution of other left-wing publications dates back even further.
According to GLW spokesperson Alex Bainbridge: "The council's decision is an attack on free speech. Because GLW is dependent upon volunteers on the streets for distribution, a ban would constitute a restriction on the circulation of the paper and the ideas it contains."
On November 27, in response to the decision, 20 people gathered in the mall to distribute GLW, collect signatures on free-speech petitions and hand out leaflets explaining "why we will defy the council ban". The paper has since been sold regularly in the mall.
"Councillors arguing against a permit have said we can distribute the paper in a number of other places in the city, just not the mall. But that's a bit like saying we can have free speech any day of the week except on Fridays", Bainbridge argues. "The Elizabeth Street Mall is a place where a lot of people come to hang out with their friends, talk, have coffee, enjoy the buskers, or pass through. Green Left Weekly has been a part of this for years, and we will defend our right to continue to be so."
GLW has received immense support from members of the public — both those who agree with the views of GLW and those who don't. Many people have bought the paper for the first time, signed petitions and pledged to contact the council expressing their support for GLW. Sellers are becoming used to being told to "keep up the good work" or urged "just keep coming back."
"This issue is bigger than just GLW", Bainbridge claims. "As more community space is privatised, and activity within it regulated for commercial interests, the defence of public space, and free speech in public space, becomes even more important."
Some activists selling red ribbons on November 30 for World AIDS Day stationed themselves in the mall in a display of solidarity.
This support, and prominent coverage in the local Murdoch paper, The Mercury, and other media has had an impact. Just two days after voting for the ban, Lord Mayor Rob Valentine called for a review of activities permissible in the mall.
Since the ban, there have been no attempts by council officers to interfere with the distribution of the paper. On November 30, however, police officers took down the name and address of a GLW supporter who was holding the paper and posing for a photograph. The police have indicated to a GLW representative that fines or arrests would be likely if the council called police to enforce the by-laws.
From Green Left Weekly, December 5, 2001.
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