A “smart alec” who held a sign critical of the Chinese Communist Party outside the Brisbane Chinese Consulate has been unsuccessful in getting $3,113.50 in fines overturned.
Drew Pavlou attempted to get two fines he was issued on May 17 of last year reversed on Tuesday, but he was unsuccessful.
The court was informed that he had been standing in the Queen Street Mall on Adelaide Street holding a banner that read, “Nothing happened on June 4, 1989, change my mind.”
The placard was a parody of a Steven Crowder meme and an allusion to the Chinese government’s involvement in the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Mr. Pavlou had not applied for a permit, according to Magistrate Michael Holohan, who determined that Mr. Pavlou’s sign constituted political advertising.
The University of Queensland student was found responsible for advertising without authorization at the shopping centre and for refusing to leave when asked to do so by a Brisbane City Council representative.
Mr. Pavlou, according to Magistrate Holohan, was “defiant,” “insolent,” and a “smart alec” who displayed no remorse for his deeds.
The magistrate rejected Mr. Pavlou’s attorney’s arguments that the 2019 Queensland Human Rights Act protected his client’s right to free expression.
Anthony Morris, KC, Mr. Pavlou’s attorney, said to the court that Mr. Pavlou was only denouncing the “horrific” human rights abuses carried out by the Chinese Communist Party.
According to Mr. Morris, his client’s motivation was genuine moral outrage rather than personal or political benefit.
For the philosophy in which he believes, one that does not include pursuing personal gain, Mr. Morris said, “He is obviously a very dedicated, committed, and zealous campaigner.”
“This is about the Communist Party of China governing a regime that offends our liberal Western ideas.
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