Pro-Palestine protesters were arrested at Parliament House, but not before succeeding in carrying out a serious security breach. Photo: James Coleman.
Peter Dutton rose in the House of Representatives yesterday (4 July) before the actual questions of Question Time began to make a statement about the pro-Palestine protesters who somehow, earlier in the day, had managed to get on the roof of Parliament House and unfurl huge anti-war banners and flags.
The Opposition Leader got straight to the point, expressing what almost everyone in the building was thinking.
“Serious questions need to be asked about how these people were permitted entry into the building and, in a couple of cases, as I understand it, who provided support to those people,” Mr Dutton said.
“And I think those questions need answers.
“We need to understand the gravity of the situation because these images will be beamed around the world, as they were when we saw those disgraceful, repugnant behaviours on the steps of the Sydney Opera House on October 9.”
He expressed great concern that the flags were displayed on the roof for more than an hour and a half, asking why they weren’t taken down immediately.
He has issued a “please explain” to the parliament’s presiding officers.
The Opposition Leader’s remarks followed those of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and, before him, Speaker of the House Milton Dick, who both expressed their outrage at the security breach.
And a security breach it was. It never should have happened.
Parliament House security and the Australian Federal Police have been left red-faced and with some explaining to do.
The Speaker ordered an investigation into the breach and has demanded a wide-scale review of security arrangements at Parliament House.
He limited access to Question Time because of the protest and locked down the public entrance and foyer of Parliament House.
On the same day, protesters also glued themselves to walls in the marble foyer.
“I do not want a repeat of today’s events,” Mr Dick said when opening Question Time.
The PM then rose to add his condemnation of the events.
Four people had been arrested, he noted, and he hoped they would “feel the full force of the law” over their actions.
“Peaceful protest has an important place in our society but this was not a peaceful protest,” Mr Albanese said.
“These actions have done absolutely nothing to advance any cause.
“Indeed, they have hurt the cause that those engaged in this reckless activity believe they are advancing.
“This is the seat of our democracy.”
But it was possibly the Opposition Leader’s comments that resonated most with anyone who was listening.
How did these people manage to get to the roof of Parliament House so easily and deface the institution so boldly in the first place?
Who already inside the building – pass holders – aided and abetted them?
Where were the security checks?
Police did a good job getting the protestors off the roof. Getting the banners down proved a little more problematic and required safety gear and some climbing skills.
That also begs the question of how the protestors were able to get them up so easily and quickly.
The banners were slung from parliament’s roof at about 10:30 am, with slogans including: “Free Palestine from the river to the sea” and “No peace on stolen land – genocide since 1788”.
The largest of the flags was draped from the coat of arms on the front of the building.
Pro-Palestine protest, Parliament House. Photo: James Coleman.
A group going by the name of Renegade Activists proudly outed themselves on social media as the culprits behind the attack on Parliament House.
Doing it on the 4th of July was a deliberate and considered choice.
Police said three men and one woman had been arrested, facing Commonwealth trespass offences.
The Speaker has banned them from parliament for 24 months.
It’s a sure bet that those individuals who have the privilege of working inside Parliament House yet stooped to help the activists carry out their protests on the building won’t be so quick to step up and be accountable.
They’re all likely feeling very pleased with themselves.
Everyone else who works there – as well as those who visit – are nevertheless suddenly feeling less safe inside the building.
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