Queensland’s ‘from the river to the sea’ laws likened to Bjelke-Petersen era anti-protest regime

The Queensland health minister, Tim Nicholls, incorrectly claimed one of the Bondi beach shooters uttered one of the two pro-Palestinian protest slogans the state has banned before the December attack. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Police arresting pro-Palestinian protesters for using the phrase “from the river to the sea” had “all the hallmarks of an authoritarian police state”, according to a Greens MP, amid widespread backlash against Queensland’s new hate speech laws.

The controversial laws went into effect yesterday after passing a vote in parliament last week.