MEDIA RELEASE – 8 MAY 2025: Freedom of Political Communication
ILLEGAL, BUT COMMENDABLE ACTION
A man who affixed a political statement to the statue of Governor Macquarie in Hyde Park has had his appeal against his finding of guilt dismissed.
What happened?
On 8 occasions, Stephen Langford affixed an A4 size paper to the base of the statue with Kids PVA craft glue detailing the words:
“All aborigines from Sydney onwards are to be made prisoners of war and if they resist, they are to be shot and their bodies hung from trees in the most conspicuous places near where they fall so as to strike fear into the hearts of surviving natives”.
Governor Lachlan Macquarie, responsible in 1816 for giving orders that led to the Appin Massacre of the Gundungarra and Dharrawal people.
These words were paraphrased from recorded instructions given by the then Major Macquarie to Captain Shaw, Captain Wallis, and Lt Dawe on 9 April 1816.
Freedom of Political Communication, do we have it in Australia?
Mr. Langford, through his solicitor, Stewart O’Connell from O’Brien Criminal & Civil Solicitors and barrister Dr. Katherine Fallah, argued that Mr. Langford’s actions were consistent with the implied constitutional right of freedom of political communication.
Judge Christine Mendes of the District Court agreed that Mr. Langford’s action was a political communication and noted that the awareness he was trying to bring to lesser-known and darker aspects of Governor Macquarie’s history was “commendable.”
She also accepted that section 6 of the Graffiti Control Act 2008 did place a burden on the implied constitutional right of freedom of political communication. However, she ultimately found that the burden was not manifestly excessive, and it was outweighed by the legitimate purposes of that section to prevent unsightly graffiti.
Freedom of Political Communication
Despite dismissing the appeal against the findings of guilt, Judge Mendes agreed to dismiss the charges against Mr. Langford without conviction or penalty. Outside of court, Mr. Langford vowed to keep bringing awareness to the issue and to keep pressure on the City of Sydney Council to make the official inscriptions on publicly funded statues more honest, noting that Wiradjuri woman Yvonne Weldon, the first Aboriginal councillor in the City of Sydney’s 180-year history, had a motion to do so endorsed by the Council in October 2023, yet no action had yet been taken.
Defamation Lawyer Stewart O’Connell
Mr. O’Connell stated: “It is an important part of our democracy that we have robust legal argument about the limits of the implied constitutional right of freedom of speech. Mr. Langford is raising awareness about an important issue, and we need to be honest about our history, good and bad. We note that the court described the intent behind his conduct as commendable. The court decision today means that he will need to find alternative means to raise that awareness, but we were happy to have put up a fight for him and obtain some clarity”
Please contact Stewart O’Connell at 0488 578 072 for any media inquiries.
