BLOG - Ten Thousand Miles from Wall Street: Muldoon v Melbourne City Council

In Muldoon v Melbourne City Council, North J of the Federal Court largely dismissed a number of applications made by protesters involved in the Occupy Melbourne protests. Occupy Melbourne supporters occupied public gardens in central Melbourne in 2011, as part of what North J described as a protest against economic inequality and the structures and operation of the present system of government. State and local laws provided that a permit was required for certain activities (for example, camping) in public parks. Local and state officials were empowered to enforce these laws, and did so on a number of occasions in response to the actions of Occupy Melbourne protesters.