George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

The case you have posited involves an essentially innocent act of civil protest, albeit in circumstances of what I suppose might be described as aggravated nuisance. The fact that the object of the protest was a warship, in those circumstances, I would not imagine constitutes an offence. I think it would be straining argument beyond its capacity to bear to say that that would constitute conduct prohibited by the section. If the warship or asset were required to be deployed in time of war then that may very well be a different case, but I think to interfere with the deployment of an asset in time of war is something which ought to be caught by the offence provision. But, beyond that exceptional circumstance, I do not think the case you have posited would attract the operation of the provision.