People charged with sneezing on a traffic cop,farting in a police station
and now,brown cow...
FEDERAL and state attorneys-general have been invited to decide whether a
man who flashed his buttocks at a police car was exercising a
constitutional right.
The invitation came from a Queensland magistrate yesterday after a lawyer
argued in court that "mooning" police was a part of the larrikin Australian
character.
James Albert Ernest Togo, 20, earlier pleaded not guilty in the
Magistrates' Court at Coolangatta, on the Gold Coast, to behaving in an
indecent manner when he "mooned" a police car soon after midnight on August
12 this year.
The offence, which carries a maximum fine of $100 under Queensland law,
became a sticky constitutional issue when lawyer Eugene O'Sullivan argued
"mooning" a police car was a legitimate and legal means of expression.
Mr O'Sullivan said it was a mild political act and a protest against
government authority protected under the implied freedoms of the Constitution.
The court was told Mr Togo was with about 10 other youths when he pulled
his pants down as a police car drove within two metres of the group.
"I got a fairly clear view through the front window," recalled Constable
Timothy Nelson. "How I interpreted it was that it was aimed at the police
car and at us."
Mr O'Sullivan agreed with the police version of events but said the action
also reflected the irreverent Australian character, which enjoyed poking
fun at authority.
"The larrikin moon is of a political nature when it is directed at an
authority figure," he said.
"I'm not suggesting this is an Aboriginal cultural thing. It's a youth thing."
Mr O'Sullivan told the court bare buttocks could be seen on a current
Queensland beer commercial and in movies such as Braveheart and Gallipoli.
Magistrate Sheryl Cornack adjourned the case until December 13 to allow
time for the federal and Queensland attorney-generals to consider a
response. Other state attorneys general will also be invited to make
submissions.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,5585454%255E662,00.html
Howard backs Santa
30 November 2002
PRIME Minister John Howard yesterday said he believed in Santa Claus and
said any childcare centre planning a Santa boycott was a slave to political
correctness.
http://sydney.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=23923&group=webcast
