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Law firm issues stark warning on COVID protests
A Queensland law firm has sounded the alarm on the likelihood of more protests opposing COVID-19 restrictions across the country.
Emma Musgrave
Creevey Russell Lawyers said such restrictions have changed the game when it comes to people's right to protest and urged the Australian community to beware of likely consequences if they break public orders to do so.
“But the right to protest and government public health orders have been competing since the outbreak of the pandemic early last year, with numerous anti-lockdown rallies raising fears of super spreader events.”
Mr Creevey's comments come after thousands of NSW and Victorian locked-down residents recently disobeyed stay-at-home orders to protest against the restrictions brought upon their home state, most notably those who reside in Sydney and Melbourne.
Creevey Russell crime and misconduct division lawyer Craig van der Hoven said the issue came to a head recently in NSW when Anthony Khallouf was charged with orchestrating Sydney's protest and later jailed for eight months.
“The protesters in the Khallouf case saw themselves as ‘above public health rules’ and simply ‘drawing out the pain for everyone else’,” he said.
“COVID-19 poses a real risk to vulnerable members of our community and Mr Khallouf encouraging thousands of people to come out against the government orders was viewed as a danger to the community.
“While we are in strange times and we may not agree with the Public Health Orders imposed, we need to ensure that we comply with government orders as there are significant consequences for failing to do so.”
Emma Musgrave
Emma Musgrave (née Ryan) is the managing editor, professional services at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, including five years spent as the editor of the company's legal brand - Lawyers Weekly. Throughout her time at Momentum, she has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia. In addition, she has produced exclusive multimedia and event content related to the company's respective brands and audiences.
Prior to joining Momentum Media, Emma worked in breakfast radio, delivering news to the Central West region of NSW, before taking on a radio journalist role at Southern Cross Austereo, based in Townsville, North Queensland.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from Charles Sturt University.
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