Speech by Angus Murray to Just Peace - Palm Sunday Rally 29 March 2026
My name is Angus Murray and I am a Vice President of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties. I respectfully add my acknowledgements to the elders past, present and emerging, and the land on which we meet today.
Arguably, George Orwell’s most famous novel is ‘1984’. It is set in a dystopic future world ravaged by global and civil wars which is shroud in government surveillance. It is a fictional book. It should not be a play book for how the world might be today. It was a caution and one which we all ought to heed to.
The QCCL was founded in 1966 in order to protect and promote the human rights and freedoms of Queensland citizens. The desire to create a civil liberties organisation began in the shadow of the Queensland Government’s repression of civil liberties during anti-Vietnam War protests.
Without dissent and protest, it is possible that our society is taken to an undesirable place. In our democracy, it is the people who are empowered to change the path set by our Government. That power should not be forgotten.
Queensland has continuously faced many challenges to civil liberties. Unfortunately, history seems to repeat itself and today we are subject to the banning of speech. The legislation which bans that speech was introduced with just six days for consultation. Admittedly, this was longer than its Federal equivalent - which should not be taken as a comfort. This lack of consultation harks back to Queensland prior to the Fitzgerald Inquiry and, even if one were to agree with the banning of speech, it should not be acceptable that this has occurred in the manner that it has.
Australia, and the world, is on the brink of a significant historical point. We should not take that lightly and, as a proud member of the Queensland community, I do not wish for us to hand a legacy to the next generation that was not fully thought through. I certainly do not want that next generation to inherit a future that we cannot earnestly say was put in place for the benefit of all humans.
In our system, the best way to challenge the path which has been laid out in front of us, is to peacefully demonstrate that there is another way. The purpose of protest, in my view, is to raise awareness and to apply a handbrake that sets the community’s mind to an issue. Here, that issue is complex - it involves the death of tens of thousands of people, global instability and Australia’s role in the future. We should not be blindly following the whim of the West into a place which we may not easily recover from. It is appropriate to be taking to the street and to be loud about it.
Just as the Bjelke -Petersen street march ban in 1977 brought people into the streets, people should be protesting today. I commend everyone here for their vigilance and willingness to stand together.