Justice Southwood to deliver ‘billpasting’ decision today

NAP member Gary Meyerhoff argued in the NT Supreme Court yesterday that a Darwin City Council by-law breaches the freedom of speech implied in the Australian constitution.

Meyerhoff was arrested with another NAP member on the 26th of August 2003. The pair was caught red-handed sticking up posters promoting the Second Darwin International Syringe Festival.

The two NAP members were charged with criminal damage and placed on a 10pm to 6am curfew for 2 weeks, before the charges were dropped by the NT Police.

Meyerhoff and his co-defendant were eventually fined by the Darwin City Council for “affixing a bill to a pole without a permit.” Meyerhoff elected to have the matter dealt with by the Magistrate’s Court and he was found guilty of the offence, fined, and ordered to pay the costs of the Darwin City Council’s lawyer, an employee of local law firm ‘Cridlands’.

Appealing the conviction in the NT Supreme Court yesterday, Meyerhoff told Justice Stephen Southwood that he felt obliged to appeal the matter as he felt that the council by-law he was charged under was a serious breach of freedom of speech.

Meyerhoff told the court that the Network Against Prohibition cannot afford TV or radio advertising and the Network does not own any billboards. He said that he has no choice but to continue to break the council by-law in order to promote what he sees as important messages calling for drug law-reform and an end to the incarceration of persons convicted of “victimless drug offences.”

He said that drug prohibition currently has majority support within our society and that the views of the Network Against Prohibition are a minority view.

In his submissions Meyerhoff said that Section 97 of the Darwin City Council by-laws had the effect of putting council in a position where they can censor posters with particular messages, hindering minority and special interest groups.

The court heard that Meyerhoff is the first person in the Northern Territory to be charged with this offence and that although permits to paste bills are available, Darwin City Council have never issued one.

Justice Stephen Southwood will deliver his decision at 9am this morning at the NT Supreme Court.

For more information call Gary on 0415 16 2525.