The police investigation GetUp might have hoped would quietly fade is doing the opposite. Detectives have interviewed several National Press Club staff, AFP Forensics officers are involved, and the club's CCTV footage is now in police hands, The Australian's Margin Call column reported on Thursday.
Press club chief executive Maurice Reilly confirmed police "have interviewed several of our staff", and said the club has provided them the relevant CCTV footage.
A spokeswoman for ACT Policing told The Australian "the investigation is ongoing".
It's just over a fortnight since GetUp claimed credit for the mechanised banner that dropped behind Pauline Hanson during her first address to the National Press Club, in a media statement that read, in full, "It was us". Police are now working out exactly who "us" is.
David Sharaz said nothing when The Australian came asking
The Australian's Will Glasgow contacted GetUp's media and campaigns lead David Sharaz on Thursday. He declined to comment.
The Australian reported that the video of the unfurling published by GetUp appeared to be filmed from an angle that lined up with the seat Sharaz occupied, that his table mates described him as noticeably energised by the stunt, and that he left the building before Hanson's question and answer session began.
Sharaz has not been charged with any offence. As One News reported when the club's statement was released, the club's account says only that Sharaz was seen filming the incident on his phone and left abruptly after the banner came down. He bought a ticket, filming an event you hold a ticket to is not an offence, and nothing on the public record supports a criminal charge against him personally.
What the Press Club told One News about the break in
In a statement to One News Australia on 17 June, Maurice Reilly said two people entered the club building the previous afternoon without permission and installed a drop down screen in front of the club's media wall and light box, and that a further person present during the address activated a remote device to trigger the banner.
No club personnel or contractors had any involvement, the club said, and it apologised to Senator Hanson for the incident.
The club referred the footage and other evidence to the AFP and said that once the investigation has concluded it will consider its legal options against the perpetrators, including recovering costs for the significant damage to the media wall and light box.
AFP Forensics is examining the rig the trespassers left behind
The involvement of AFP Forensics officers, reported by The Australian, points at physical evidence. The banner rig was built and installed inside the club the day before the address, which gives investigators hardware to examine alongside the CCTV of the two people the club says entered without permission.
As One News set out last month, entering the building without permission exposes the two intruders to trespass charges under ACT law, and criminal damage charges under the Crimes Act 1900 (ACT) are available if the installation damaged the media wall or light box. The person who triggered the banner from inside the room was a ticketed guest, and activating a remote device to disrupt the speech may have exceeded the conditions of that lawful entry, which can support further charges depending on the evidence.
Sean Bell wants GetUp's Parliament House passes torn up
The stunt has also reached Parliament House. One Nation senator Sean Bell has written to Senate President Sue Lines and Speaker Milton Dick asking them to knock back any pending Parliament House pass applications from GetUp, revoke existing passes held by people employed by the group, and direct the Department of Parliamentary Services and the AFP's Parliamentary Security Service to review building access for anyone connected to it, News.com.au reported on 19 June. The Prime Minister's office has been notified of the letter.
"An organisation that has now demonstrated a willingness to unlawfully enter premises, covertly install a device and do so without any apparent remorse presents an obvious and unacceptable risk if permitted to retain access to areas of the building that are not continuously guarded," Senator Bell said. The issue is not simply one of protest activity. It is a matter of safety, security and the proper protection of the parliamentary workplace."
Barnaby Joyce put the security case more bluntly on the Karl Stefanovic show. "What if it had been a bomb?" he asked, adding that he believed the stunt was an inside job and that whoever operated the device should be found.
Pauline Hanson keeps banking the stunt GetUp paid for
The stunt itself remains the gift that keeps giving, just not to GetUp. Hanson's Fire the Liar fund stood at $4,559,691 on the evening of the address. At the time of writing it has reached $4,974,754 from 78,545 donors, blowing past the original $4.7 million target, which has been lifted to $5 million. She has since overtaken Anthony Albanese as preferred prime minister in the Resolve poll.
GetUp wanted a viral moment at Pauline Hanson's expense. Instead the expense is shaping up as its own. A forensics team is examining the rig, the club's lawyers are waiting for the investigation to wrap so they can put a number on the damage, and ACT Policing confirms the probe is ongoing. Hanson got the donations, the polling bump and another news cycle. GetUp got the AFP. We'd say that went well for One Nation. Please, continue the free PR campaign.
