Brisbane "Move On Powers"

This is a link to an article which appeared in Brisbane's daily paper on Monday 21/11/05 http://www.couriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,17307716%255E3102,00.html

The issue of these move on powers has been ongoing for some time in Brisbane. The mayor is trying to get the police power to evict a person from a public area for a period of 24 hours. The three areas mentioned in the article are public areas, 2 are parks and the 3rd is a public square in Brisbane CBD. All three areas are hangouts of homeless people.

Whilst the areas do have incidences of violence and other anti social behaviour so do many other areas of Brisbane. On any given Friday and Saturday night you can find people fighting, urinating, vomiting etc throughout the CBD. These areas appear to have targeted because they are gathering points for homeless and other disadvantaged people. People actually sleep in all 3 areas with numerous homeless people sleeping particularly in the 2 parks.

Under the laws, police could order a person to leave an area for up to 24 hours if they reasonably suspected that person's behaviour or presence was or had been causing anxiety to others, interfering with business, disrupting the peace, disorderly, indecent, offensive or threatening, or the person had been soliciting for prostitution. This is obviously very broad and abuse of these powers is the main concern of people opposed to their introduction.
One particularly concerning issue is that food vans attend all 3 areas. To set the scene, imagine some homeless people waiting for a food van. They might be swearing in their general conversation. The police arrive and evict the people for 24 hours because this could be judged as "offensive behaviour". The people concerned are then left angry and without access to the food van. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to imagine what could occur after the people are evicted from the area.

I maybe a cynic but these laws seem to be an avenue to drive "streeties" out of the city area and out of the public's view. This has been an agenda for the Mayor for quite some time. He has previously described people attending the food vans as unsightly and smelly. The mayor seems to have a very narrow minded view of the homeless, he seems to immediately associate homelessness with being dirty and smelly. He is even determined to push for the laws even though 85% of submissions received regarding the laws opposed them. He is ignoring the figures and pursuing his agenda of hiding the homeless from public view.

The council is also in the process of forcing the nightly food vans to relocate from King George Square in the CBD to a location on the CBD fringe. There is a busway tunnel being constructed under the square and the council is saying the vans will have to move away from the construction area. This maybe so however the new location proposed is poorly lit, has no seating and is too far out of the CBD. The Council has promised to improve the area but some of the van providers and people who attend the vans are not happy with the new location and a confrontation is brewing. Personally I hope the van providers stand their ground and refuse to move unless a safer area can be proposed.

There are people within the council who are extremely helpful and considerate of the homeless and their situations however the mayor seems to be set on hiding the homeless as if they don't exist.

I would greatly appreciate other thoughts, comments, ideas on the topic. I may just be cynical and be over reacting so bring on the discussion and debate of the issue.

This is another link with an article regarding Brisbane's move on Powers.

www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200511/s1516368.htm

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman says public safety is a priority.

"Well the idea is to allow police to have the power to deal with people who are causing fear to people in our community," he said.

"That's what it's about, it's about being to deal with people who are actually causing fear and anxiety who acting in a way that does not meet normal community standards."

Yet another example of the mayor's view of the homeless. If you do not meet "normal" community standards apparently you should be moved on from public places. As per other threads in this forum it is very hard to define normal which allows massive scope for abuse of the powers.

Here are 2 submissions that council received against the powers which have reassured me I am not overly cynical.

www.adcq.qld.gov.au/docs/Move_On_Powers.rtf

www.qpilch.org.au/publications/submissions/move%20On%20powers.pdf

There is already confusion in Brisbane regarding the move on powers with some streeties believing they have already been passed. This could lead to homeless or other marginised people being "moved on" unlawfully. I will be trying to keep up to date with this issue and will post further details as they come to light.

The ongoing issue of Brisbane City Council's application to add the three public areas to the Police move on powers continues. Last week I was advised by a service provider that the laws had been passed and were being effected. I have followed this up and found it not to be true. I have just today received an email confirming the application is still with the QPS and awaiting further action from the Queensland Police Minister. The three public areas have not been added to the legislation and any attempts to "move people on" from these areas would be unlawful. From what I gather on the street most streeties believe the laws are in force and this line may even be being pushed by the council.

Once again I confirm the legislation has not been updated and I will post any further developments as they come to hand...

OK so now I'm really confused.:confused: The email I received yesterday was from the co-ordinator of the Homeless Person's Legal Clinic here in Brissy. She had spoken to the Police minister's senior policy adviser who had told her the Brisbane City Council application RE Move on Powers was with the Police Minister and probably would not be looked at for a couple of weeks. Then on the radio yesterday the news reports were advising the Police Minister had approved the application.:confused: I can't find any details on the web today so I'm not sure where its at.

The Homeless Person's Legal Clinic has had very little or no cooperation from either the State or local government RE the move on powers an it looks like that is set to continue. The HPLC was not even able to obtain a copy of the BCC's application! As I understand it the application still needs to go to parliament as a legislation change is required to amend the original move on powers. I will get in contact with the HPLC on Monday to see if I can find out more but for now I as I understand it the laws are not enforceable. Once again I will update the thread when I know more.

Do the Police not see the simple fact that by telling people to 'move on' they will just go and hang out somewhere else? And then they will find their new hang-out and tell them to "move on" again. If they can't sit on one side of the road - they'll move to the other. Where are they expected to go? Are they meant to just dissappear? What do they think that telling people to 'move on' will achieve?

People need somewhere to sit, to chat, to sleep, to eat, to hang out... and if they can't do it on one side of town they will move to the other side. Why don't they work on giving these people somewhere to "move on" too? They are NOT HELPING these people at all. They are just saying (in a round about way) that society does not want to know that these people exist because THEY don't know how to deal with it, so just stay out of sight. SO WRONG!

A few other streeties and i were once told by a security guard to 'move on' because "people won't come to this shopping centre when the scum of society are sitting at it's doorstep". We weren't doing anything wrong or disruptive, we were just sitting on the steps talking like anyone else would. Sure we looked pretty rough around the egdes, and we were, but so what? I didn't see a dress code on the entry sign. The issue seemed to be that we were somehow meant to just 'dissapear' because we were potraying a negative image...

The way i see it is you've got people from all walks of life living within our society - and just because you can't see them it doesn't mean they're not there. People like the Police seem to be shallow enough to think that if they can get you out of peoples sight then all will be well. Unfortunately telling people to "move on" means just that - they will move on somewhere else... they won't just 'dissappear' which is what they are basically wanting to say but can't.

Once again you are spot on Sashalee.:D Whilst I do agree that the police should have the power to ask drunken, violent etc people to move on from an area the concern here is the abuse of the powers. The three public places that are to be added to the legislation are well known hangouts of homeless people. The wording of the legislation is so broad that police could move someone on from one of these areas for something as minor as swearing in general conversation.

Groups like the homeless person's legal clinic and the anti discrimination council have in their submissions on the topic sought to include that the police should be responsible for making sure the people "moved on" have somewhere to go or indicate where it is safe for them to go. However as I have already metioned the Homeless person's legal clinic has received virtually no cooperation from Brisbane City Council or the State Government.

There is currently a big push to get homeless people out of King George Square in the city which is one of the areas on BCC's application. Council and police are urging people to go to a new area on the city fringe where the night vans etc now go. This area is poorly lit and there is no security not even camera's. It is also too far for older people to walk to. The council has ignored all this and seems intent on pushing homeless people out of the city and out of the public eye.

It seems the move on laws will be amended to include the three public areas and from then we will just have to wait and see how they are effected. I have grave fears that they will be abused to "move on" homeless people out of the city and out of sight.:mad:

Homelessness is not a crime. Squatting is a necessity of homelessness. It is the necessity of survival under extreme duress for some. Think of the people who pass these laws as narrow minded buttheads.

This is how we combat thistwusea.blogspot.com

I've been away for a few days and out of the loop, but from what I can tell QLD Police minister Judy Spence is now seeking to have "move on" laws applied statewide to all public spaces.:eek: This is going to present extreme problems for homeless people in Qld. I'll chase up whats going on with the legislation over the next few days. But this is definately a turn for the worse.:mad:

This is a link to a speech given by Monica Taylor, Co ordinator of the Homeless Person's Legal Clinic here in Brisbane. Monica is the person who has been keeping me up to date with what's happening with the "Move on" powers legislation. If you take the time to read the speech it highlights lot's of the concerns I have raised here on this thread.

http://www.qpilch.org.au/publications/Speeches/051123HomelessnessSpeech.pdf

I am still following up what's happening with the BCC application now that the QLD police minister is seeking move on powers to apply to all QLD public spaces.

It is good to know that at least there oranisations such as the HPLC who are closely following the move on powers applications. As noted in the speech it is however appalling that council has refused to co operate with such organisations regarding releasing information and statistics.

All service providers in Brisbane and other areas that have this law at some point need to become involved in informing their clients of their rights accurately and updating the information as misinformation is easily taken advantage of.

IMO it will come in, and it will revolutionize policing in Queensland. Police can be sure someone is dealing drugs (or 1% sure), but they aren't smart enough to bust them on it... give them a 24 hour move on order. When they return... give them another 24 hour move on direction to remove the dealer from their 'spot.' If they believe the person is a sex worker, if they believe they are a scumbag because they are homeless... give them a move on order... wait till they come back... give them another one. etc etc

Whoever the Police want to target, regardless of if they have any evidence and usually because they don't have enough or any... 24 hour move on direction. Give some lip... 24 hour move on direction. It completely circumvents the justice process where they can simply be judge jury and find anyone guilty of not being worthy to be in any place the Police determine.

Last I heard, and it was a while ago I worked in Queensland as my home base, was that they need to give you a kind of ticket or something as part of a formal move on order. Is this still the case?

The thing is I believe to get every move on order recorded in the system with one of these 'tickets,' rather than an informal process where Police can give 1,000 move on orders per day and record that only 10 were given... which is the case now when they are giving them and don't have the legal grounds to do so. And where they do have the ground to do so, it's not recorded.

See it came in initially as a 'trial' in some areas, and by using statistics the rub was given to the policy... a good ole rub. So the policy makers have been handed a bunch of bullshit stats compared to what actually goes on - on the streets... I know the Police are real keen on it, I've spoken at length on a number of occasions with people in the job and the reality from their perspective is... it will make their 'job' easier... who defines what their job is, is now in their hands as individuals I guess as there is no longer a need to have enough evidence to charge someone for being a low life scumbag homeless bum so they can find them guilty of 'not worthy as a citizen.'

If Police have the power to determine what drug dealers are allowed in what areas when... this law will be the most powerful tool in fueling corruption and nothing else. Snow job of the decade! I wonder how long before other states catch on and Police can literally push people out of one suburb to the next to the next to the next to the next state to the next state....

Fact is the Premier of Queensland Peter Beattie is a power junkie, only interested in what will get him re-elected, and absolutely no interest in the people he governs, especially the more powerless. So I hold out no hope what so ever in this going in the right direction. When Lord Mayor Jim Sorley was in power he would have used these exact words "Get fucked Beattie, not in my city." That's what Jim was like he would not stand for any of Beattie's crap. Gone are the good ole days!

All service providers in Brisbane and other areas that have this law at some point need to become involved in informing their clients of their rights accurately and updating the information as misinformation is easily taken advantage of.

This is a very important point. That's why I have been keeping in contact with Monica to try and keep up with what's happening. Unfortunately most people on the street here in Brissie believe the laws are already in and there is the chance the police could use this situation to their advantage. I have even heard service providers advising that the laws have been approved.:eek:

Last I heard, and it was a while ago I worked in Queensland as my home base, was that they need to give you a kind of ticket or something as part of a formal move on order. Is this still the case?


Not sure on this Dominic, as far as I'm aware the police will be able to ask a person/group of people to move on from the designated areas for a period of 24 hours. I will try and find out what paper trail is involved.

The latest update I received yesterday was that the Police minister had signed off on BCC's application to add New Farm Park, Kurilpa Point and King George Square to the move on laws and that move on powers will be applicable to these areas probably by the end of the month. I will post as soon as I know they are approved.

With regard to the statewide public space move on power. That needs to go before parliament. State Labour party is currently on a caucus break debating several issues including the statewide move on powers. It would seem it would be a matter of months before statewide laws went through the neccessary process. Once again I will keep everyone updated.

It seems to me that if this law gets in, a lot of people will be in a world of hurt.

If you resist it, that will be used as justification for it.
If you protest you'll get ignored.
If you do nothing, you'll get rolled.

So perhaps, an en masse, very non-violent, very public and very flagrant violation of the law is the only option left. What do you think?

Regards,
Konstantìn

It seems to me that if this law gets in, a lot of people will be in a world of hurt.

So perhaps, an en masse, very non-violent, very public and very flagrant violation of the law is the only option left. What do you think?


That's something I had thought of but the fine of upto $3000 for ignoring the move on order would be a major deterent. Also something of that nature would be very hard to organise. I guess I could always speak to Streetseen:D

At the moment it's just going to be suck it and see when the laws come into effect in the 3 designated areas. If the laws are being abused then I'm sure there will be some form of protest from interested parties such as HPLC and the anti discrimination council.

I haven't heard from the HPLC Co ordinator for a while but I have found the fact sheet below on a related site and it indicates that King George Square, New Farm Park and Kurilpa Point have now been added to the Prescribed places list and move on powers are now enforceable in those areas. I will endeavour to confirm this soon. But here is the fact sheet link.

www.qldalliance.org.au/resources/items/2006/02/67232-upload-00001.pdf

It also has the addresses of where free legal advice can be obtained from the homeless person's legal clinic.

2006 National Homeless Conference was on from 1-3 Mar in Sydney. I didn't go but caught up for drinks with people who did. http://www.afho.org.au/conference/index.htm

Apparently there was a portion on public space / move on / in Qld and quite a few Brizy people were there.

Hopefully there is a new energy to challenge the issue.

I can confirm that the Move on Powers are now enforceable in the 3 designated areas. King George Square, Kurilpa Park an New Farm Park.

The state government is also going ahead with its plans for statewide public space move on powers. Once again community organisations such as the Homeless Person's Legal Clinic will staunchly object to such laws but given the government ignored such objections with relation to the above areas it doesn't look good.

The statewide powers will need to go through parliament so it will be a while before they become enforceable. I will keep everyone updated as I get more information.

Once again thanks to Monica Taylor from the HPLC for providing me with updates on the laws.

I have a few friends in the 'beattie team,' members of parliament that I have called to have a yarn about the proposed move-on powers.

Their perspective is pretty much that all hope is lost for Beattie ever growing a spine. [something I could have told them a while ago]. So I doubt that any amount of lobbying or anything will impede the introduction of these laws. Their advice was: if you can politicise it and make the issue of potential hurt for beattie with the electorate that is the way to 'speak beattie' everything else is japanese to him.

I can't see any service providers having the guts to go berserk in the media against beattie and politicise the issue as they are pretty much all dependant on funding from his government.

If any qld service providers want to step up to the plate... do it through the media, that is your only hope and thats from members of his cacus.

By media I mean a concerted and continued assault. Print, radio and tv up the yin yan for as long as possible. It's gotta hurt or he just isn't interested.

The Homeless Person's Legal Clinic has produced a survey which has been distributed to service providers Re interaction between homeless people and the police regarding move on powers. The purpose of the survey is investigate the effect of the move on powers and if they are being applied executed correctly etc. Most service providers here in Brisbane have been providied with the survey and hopefully people will participate and it will help monitor the application of the laws. If anyone reads this and would like more info PM or email me or contact the HPLC at hplc@qpilch.org.au.

Hi all - Monica here from the Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic in Brissie. I thought I'd register our service and post on this thread with the hope of giving you a bit of updated info,,, although it's clear that Punter has passed on all the major points!

Our move-on powers survey is now on-line, as is our factsheet. In addition to the survey, we're also running facilited workshops at some of the service providers in Brisbane during April/May (HART4000, 139 Club etc) More stories & voices, the better.

http://www.qpilch.org.au/_dbase_upl/policefactsheet2.pdf
http://www.qpilch.org.au/_dbase_upl/Policesurvey.doc

Statewide move-on powers are currently sitting in parliament in Bill form, and we expect the Bill will be passed shortly. The Brisbane expansion of the powers was bad, but this is much worse. HPLC is part of RIPS (Rights In Public Space Action Group), which is a coalition of community legal centres and academics in Brisbane which advocates for positive law reform of public space laws. HPLC research on move-on powers will feed into RIPS' lobbying efforts with ALP pollies, the Minsiter and other stakeholders. We've had some success with a media campaign (Dominic's suggestion) - but this has been largely in terms of profile-raising rather than substantively preventing the Bill from being drafted. Opinions & stories about move-on powers are valid, important and necessary to ensure our lobbying efforts reflect what is actually going on and make relevant suggestions for change... the surveys & workshops are one way, but I'm always happy to receive feedback and ideas by email, hplc@qpilch.org.au

Thanks Monica for the update.:) Please keep us posted re the public space move on powers and good luck fighting the good fight.:D To anyone who has been affected by the move on powers please participate in the survey or contact the HLPC, so we can keep track of what's happening out there.

I have just received word that the legislation containing the amendments to the police move on powers to include all public spaces in Queensland was passed last week. It now has one final step before coming into effect but is likely to do so by the end of the week. Until then the laws are only applicable to prescribed places including King George Square, Kurilpa Park and Newfarm Park.
I will post any further details as soon as I become aware of changes.

Is that final step enactment? Always check whether a law that has been passed has been enacted. Up to then, it can't be used; although it is officially law, as politicians sometimes tell us about laws they have passed, but not enacted.

When I worked in road safety, this happened sometimes. Either the pollies overlooked the enactment process, or they didn't really want the law, but wanted the public to think they did. It's a get-out clause for anybody who is aware...although unfortunately, few people are. Mind, I have my doubts about how well a homeless person would go arguing a point of law such as that on a street corner...

The final step is called royal Assent I think. From what I gather it is the process of making legislation that has been passed actual law that is enforceable. The HPLC will let me know as soon as the legislation is enforceable.

Royal Assent sounds like an idiosyncratic way of saying enactment. What enactment does is make a law enforceable, so it looks as though that's it...once that's done there's no going back.

Hey everyone - yep, Royal Assent is a very posh way of saying enactment. It's usually that or Proclamation by the Governor in Council which is another formality only done by someone else... but there you have it. Punter's right - existing move on laws will remain until the Royal Assent is given, which is likely to be Thurs or Fri if Parliament is on track with their to-do list. Quite depressing. Good news (sort of) is we have collected more than 100 surveys which confirm what we already know & capture some pretty grim stories about people's experiences with Qld police and move-on :(

Well the amendment received royal assent on Thursday 1 June. So move on powers are now enforceable in public spaces in Queensland. Here is the HPLC factsheet regarding the law.

www.qpilch.org.au/_dbase_upl/policefactsheet2.pdf

I guess now we can only wait see how the police apply the new powers. Of course we are all hoping this will be done in a fair and reasonable way however I fear some disadvantaged people such as homeless people will be targeted.

Please if you are "moved on" please contact the HPLC by emailing hplc@qpilch.org.au or visit one of their clinics listed on the factsheet. Alternatively PM or email me and I will put you in contact with the HPLC. We need the feedback on how the laws are being enforced so please make contact with the HPLC and fill out a survey so we can track the new powers impact.

I emailed Rosies and they already planned to display the flyer on their vans.... so sounds like HPLC is getting the word out nicely.

We're going to try and do some move-on t-shirts! What do you think of the graphic? (I hope this comes out OK on the post..)

I love it! :D

And when all's said and done, you really have to wonder what on earth she's hanging around for, don't you? :rolleyes: :eek: :D

That's brilliant, but I'm wondering wouldn't people wearing the t-shirts be targets for the police to move on?:D LOL

There's an article in a local paper today indicating vendors of "The Big Issue" have already become targets for the laws. Given the council had promised this wouldn't be an issue it's not a good indicator for the future. I'll post the article when it becomes available on the paper's website.

I did see something today that made me shake my head in amazement. 3 plain clothes police officers, (i know they were police because they displayed their badges and guns) I'd presume detectives were patrolling the Queen St Mall in the CBD approaching groups of teenagers and asking why weren't they in school. They then proceeded to take down names addresses and schools involved etc. I was sitting next to one of the groups and witnessed the whole procedure with complete bewilderment. Now I know truancy can be a bit of an issue but surely Queensland's finest have greater concerns than a couple of group's of 14 and 15 year old's who were sitting quietly eating their Macca's and Hungary Jack's.

They did not make the kids move on or anything but it was clear they were sending a message that groups of kids hanging around the mall were target of the day or perhaps week. If such thinly veiled harrassment of kids is taking place what hope have disadvantaged/minority groups got. Like I said above these are not good signs for the future.

I did see something today that made me shake my head in amazement. 3 plain clothes police officers, (i know they were police because they displayed their badges and guns) I'd presume detectives were patrolling the Queen St Mall in the CBD approaching groups of teenagers and asking why weren't they in school. They then proceeded to take down names addresses and schools involved etc. I was sitting next to one of the groups and witnessed the whole procedure with complete bewilderment. Now I know truancy can be a bit of an issue but surely Queensland's finest have greater concerns than a couple of group's of 14 and 15 year old's who were sitting quietly eating their Macca's and Hungary Jack's.


Echk, it's the badge+bully syndrome again.
We now have plain clothes ticket inspectors on our trains as well.
I can understand the need to use plainclothes, but for freaking train tickets!!!

Regards,
Konstantìn

I did see something today that made me shake my head in amazement. 3 plain clothes police officers, (i know they were police because they displayed their badges and guns) I'd presume detectives were patrolling the Queen St Mall in the CBD approaching groups of teenagers and asking why weren't they in school. They then proceeded to take down names addresses and schools involved etc. I was sitting next to one of the groups and witnessed the whole procedure with complete bewilderment. Now I know truancy can be a bit of an issue but surely Queensland's finest have greater concerns than a couple of group's of 14 and 15 year old's who were sitting quietly eating their Macca's and Hungary Jack's.

They did not make the kids move on or anything but it was clear they were sending a message that groups of kids hanging around the mall were target of the day or perhaps week. If such thinly veiled harrassment of kids is taking place what hope have disadvantaged/minority groups got. Like I said above these are not good signs for the future.

They were probably JAB Juvenile Aid Bureau (http://www.police.qld.gov.au/Resources/Internet/join/documents/JAB.pdf)... or whatever they are called now. Basically the cops specially designated to work with minors. I doubt it's related to any move on issues, they do concern themselves with 'truancy' from time to time. It was probably more of a stock taking exercise than an actual response to truancy.

They have a pretty good reputation and I've always been super impressed with how they have conducted themselves with young people. I don't know much about what they do, but from what I can figure, they must be involved with supporting young victims of crime a lot or something like that as they have in my experience been really respectful towards young people and have that something else that Police only get if they have experience that enables them to gain a better respect and understanding of who they are coming into contact with.

My limited understanding is that while they are the ones who are involved in policing young people, equally they are also the ones involved in looking into child abuse and other stuff where the child is the victim.

I seriously doubt they would use move on powers at all as from what I understand they tend to be 1. more professional ( / experienced), and 2. interested in gaining rapport with young people.

But it has been a while since I worked in Brisbane and have no idea what they were up to or why or how / if they plan to use or abuse move on powers... or even if they were JAB in the first place (but that's my guess).

I didn't think the officers would apply move on powers to the kids, I was just a bit baffled by 3 plain clothes police with badges and guns on display approaching groups of kids who were sitting quietly eating their lunch. I also thought the way the police jumped straight into almost interrogating the kids wasn't exactly a friendly approach.

There is a problem in the Brisbane CBD at the moment with large groups of kids (particularly goths) hanging around being noisy, swearing, blocking footpaths ie just doing what kids do. I'd say it was more to do with that but their targets were not causing any trouble. The JAB sounds like a good idea but these cops didn't seem to be attempting to strke up a rapport with the kids.

I guess I just mentioned it because it highlighted that any group can be targeted by the authorities and given the new public space move on powers the potential for the abuse of the power is there. According to the HPLC they are already receiving evidence of the incorrect application of the laws. I really hope it doesn't become an issue but we will just have to wait and see.

Hi all
It's been a while! Thought I'd let you know our research report has been published and its available from the QPILCH website. The findings are pretty grim. If you're into numbers and stats... 132 people responded to our move-on powers survey. Over 3/4 people surveyed were told to move-on one or more times in the last 6 months. Most susceptible were rough sleepers; 90% (!) of people sleeping rough or in squats had been given a move-on direction. What really alarmed us was that the majority of people (71%) who received a move-on direction complied with it, without question or argument - which reveals just how effective the powers are as a dispersal tool.

I'm interested in what you guys think of our recommendations. We didn't recommend the complete abolition of move-on powers because a significant number of people said they actually supported them when they were used to protect homeless people. We did recommend the section that allows the powers to be used if a person's "presence" causes anxiety, obstructs trade/business etc. should be abolished becuase in our view it is way too broad and allows for too much police discretion.

Here's the link to the report: http://www.qpilch.org.au/_dbase_upl/Nowhere%20To%20Go.pdf

that seems like a very interesting report, and coming from someone who has been "moved on" one too many times, i feel like it is very much the badge and bully syndrome, and in my eyes it will only get worse. i myself have been placed in the watchhouse for trying to argue about the move on which had been wrongfully placed upon me. i wasn't agressive, or trying to be smart, although they thought i was. i don't think that the law should be rid of completely, but they should specify who they are trying to target instead of waving their badges whenever and to whomever they feel like.