Australasian Political Studies Association Conference 2003
Hosted by the School of Government
University of Tasmania

Australian and New Zealand Politics Stream

Freedom of political speech in pedestrian malls – a national survey

Dr Katharine Gelber
School of Politics and International Relations
University of New South Wales

Abstract:

This paper builds on work undertaken previously regarding the application of the constitutionally implied “freedom of political communication” to speech regulation and speech policy. Since 1992 the High Court of Australia has developed a limited implied constitutional freedom of political communication. I am concerned to investigate the effects of this constitutional development on speech policy, and specifically its effects on the regulation of “political speech”. This paper reports on an empirical investigation I have undertaken into the regulation of political speech. It analyses the results of a national survey of local government regulatory practices and policies regarding political speech in pedestrian malls. The survey investigates by-laws and regulations covering 115 pedestrian malls around Australia, in every state and territory. The results are startling. They reveal the existence of broadly conceived and executed local government regulations, which appear in many instances to encroach on the constitutional freedom as conceptualised and developed by the High Court. Also, the regulatory frameworks differ widely between jurisdictions, exposing a problem of policy inconsistency in the application of the High Court doctrine to the regulation of political speech by local governments. The analysis also reveals a trend towards permitting private sector interests to regulate public space in increasingly restrictive ways.