Art, dissent, and the censor state: Freedom of artistic expression in contemporary Queensland

In late March 2026, Queensland police directed a Brisbane artist to remove satirical works responding to new laws criminalising the prohibited expressions ‘from the river to the sea’ and ‘globalise the intifada’. This article argues that these new laws represent the most direct criminalisation of artistic expression in Australia since the Bjelke-Petersen era, situating it within a longer Queensland history and a national pattern of rushed post-Bondi legislation. Focusing on the distinctive democratic value and structural vulnerability of artists, it contends that the Act’s ‘artistic purpose’ defence offers no meaningful protection, that the law is constitutionally vulnerable, and that its chilling effect is already evident.