Questions remain over last week’s police action at Dissent Café and Bar, despite police confirming no crime was committed, says independent Kurrajong MLA Thomas Emerson.
Police said earlier that displaying the satirical and anti-fascist posters at the centre of the dispute was not an offence.
Mr Emerson said Canberrans would be relieved by the finding but criticised the decision to deploy five officers to close the venue and remove the posters before their legality had been determined.
“It’s ridiculous that five officers were diverted from other work to close Dissent Café and Bar and remove these posters,” he said.
Mr Emerson questioned how Commonwealth hate symbol legislation had been applied and said either the laws were not operating as intended or they failed to meet community expectations.
“If this incident does not reflect how the legislation is supposed to function, we need to course correct before someone else’s artistic expression is wrongfully accused of being illegal,” he said.
He has asked whether an apology would be issued and whether compensation would be provided to the venue and a touring band whose performance was cancelled as a result of the police action.
Mr Emerson said the community needed assurances the incident would not be repeated, warning it could have a “chilling effect” on artistic and political expression in Canberra.
He also called on the ACT Government to publicly condemn the laws if it agreed the incident was not what Canberrans wanted for the city.
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