James Hillier’s career has reached a point he could not have imagined when he first turned to temporary art a decade ago. The biggest billboard in Times Squarecover of Elton John and Britney Spears CDcup inside hands of the prime minister.
The latest, however, is an even bigger turn: the Queensland Police Service’s crackdown, under state laws passed this month to ban the use of two Palestinian phrases. And he is not alone.
Hillier was opening the art and design shop he also operates in Brisbane’s north on Wednesday when he noticed a missed call from the police. In response, he was told he would be subject to trespassing complaints.
“They made some requests that I remove (the sitemap) from the listing so that I could comply. I spoke with a lawyer and complied with their requests while I continued to get legal advice,” Hillier told the magazine by phone on Saturday.
Brisbane-based Hillier, under the moniker Nordacious, produces pop art inspired illustrations in themes and figures of celebrities, social justice and Australiana. Therefore, recent international events have attracted him to the Palestinian issue.
Time LNP government led by David Crisafulliand some large Jewish groups and figures, have seen banned expressions (“from the river to the sea” and “globalise the intifada”) antisemitic and calls to “slaughter the Jews”, this is not a blanket view.
Others, including other parts of the Jewish communitysee the phrases – especially the first – as part of the call to stop freedom from oppression, illegal work and the genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel.
As the government pushed its controversial proposed ban through a single-parliamentary and oversight committee system, Hillier emphasized this with the phrase “river to sea” in a series of three speeches starting in early February.
In social media posts on Friday nightincluding his nearly 50,000 Instagram followers, Hillier said it was the product listings containing the three jobs that he removed from his site after a call from the police.
One shows Crisafulli wearing bow ties bearing the Star of David pressing a protest banner on a map of the state emblazoned with the words “from Brisbane River to Moreton Bay: I’ll decide what you can say”.
Another is using photo by John Farnhampart of the lyrics from his 1988 hit Two Strong Hearts which contains the words “river to sea”, and a slice of watermelon – a typical symbol of Palestine that shares its colors with its flag.
The third shows the arrest of 18-year-old Bonnie Carter in a song with the words “from the river to the sea” he wore to a small protest outside the parliament building hours after the ban came into force on 11 March.
When Carter escaped cautiously, a second person was arrested and charged by the police that day – 33-year-old Liam Parry – will face court on April 8 for reciting, transmitting, or publicly displaying prohibited speech.
The offence, which prohibits the use of similar phrases or words where such behavior “can reasonably be expected to cause a member of the public to feel threatened, harassed or offended” is punishable by two years in prison.
There are “reasonable excuses” including artistic, religious, educational, historical, legal, law enforcement and public interest – such as news reporting – for using the articles, but the burden of proof is on the accused.
“I am not anti-Semitic. I hate bigotry in every aspect of my life. Everything I do comes from a place of deep compassion for other people,” Hillier said by phone.
“My desire is to see … international law upheld, human rights upheld, and freedom of expression restored to Queensland so that people can defend their human rights freely without being treated like a criminal.”
Hillier has not removed the social media posts with the footage, which he said he was not told. “But they made it clear … if I post on social media or somewhere else online going forward, then that would be considered a breach,” he said.
In a statement, police said they were investigating a complaint about “references to banned words appearing in artwork displayed online”.
After Sydney-based street artist Scott Marsh shared images of a new mural in South Brisbane also depicting Farnham, the words “sea river” and a watermelon, police said “further enquiries” were also being made there.
“The investigation into the matter is ongoing,” the police said, noting that incidents involving anti-Semitism were treated as criminal matters and thoroughly investigated to “take appropriate measures to hold the perpetrators accountable”.
“The QPS strongly condemns anyone who incites hatred within our community – there is no room for it.”
When contacted by phone on his way back to Sydney, Marsh told him that he had not yet contacted the police.
Hillier also had yet to hear of any police action, such as seizure warrants – as seen in the law’s use of the “from the river to the sea, come get us Crisafulli” banner. at the Catholic activist home of Greenslopes last week.
“The impression I got was, especially after consulting with a lawyer, that that could be a consequence for me as well if I didn’t comply,” Hillier said.
In additional comments written for this column, Hillier said satire, political commentary and protest art are fundamental to a healthy democracy.
“This is what political art looks like… That should scare everyone, no matter where they sit politically,” he said.
“What scares me the most is not what actually happens to me. It’s an example. These laws, quite frankly, are being used as a way to silence the defense of the Palestinians.”
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Matt Dennien is a Brisbane Times reporter covering government politics and the public service. He has previously worked in Tasmanian newspapers and Brisbane community radio station 4ZZZ. Contact him safely on Waves @mattdennien.15Connect through email address.
