Australians have been warned they face hefty fines if they annoy the crowds gathering to see the Pope during his visit later this month, under new regulations that critics say represent a blow to free speech.Areas around Sydney's landmark opera house, train stations and city parks are being set aside for the World Youth Day festival, a six-day Catholic evangelical event in July at which the Pope will conduct mass and lead prayer meetings.
Police and emergency services will have the power to order people to cease behaviour that "causes annoyance or inconvenience to participants in a World Youth Day event" under the regulations. Anyone who fails to comply could be fined A$5,500 (£2,630).
The New South Wales police commissioner, Andrew Scipione, said the powers were similar to those already available to police at big sports events. They were being extended to World Youth Day sites to boost security among the large crowds expected.
"These are powers to stop people taking things in ... like a paint bomb, all of those sort of things that ... certainly you couldn't take to the football on Saturday," Scipione said.
Anna Katzman, the president of the New South Wales bar association, which represents almost 3,000 lawyers, said it was "unnecessary and repugnant" to make someone's inconvenience the basis of a criminal offence.
"If I was to wear a T-shirt proclaiming that 'World Youth Day is a waste of public money' and refuse to remove it when an officer ... asks me to, I would commit a criminal offence," Katzman said. "How ridiculous is that?"
A coalition of gay rights, student and atheist groups is planning a protest march on July 19 over what it sees as the Pope's homophobic and antiquated ideas. Organisers said they would not change the plans because of the new regulations.
"We are not anti-religion," said Rachel Evans, a spokesowman for the No to Pope coalition. "We expect the police will allow us to distribute condoms to the young pilgrims and talk with them about human rights issues."
Lee Rhiannon, a Greens party MP, said the definition of what was annoying was open to interpretation and the penalties under the new regulations were too severe.
Scipione's deputy, Dave Owens, said officers would act reasonably when deciding what is offensive, including when assessing clothing. "Police officers do it every day of the week," he said. "We're not the fashion police, we're not killjoys."
A World Youth Day spokesman, Father Mark Podesta, said the church had not sought the increased powers for police.
Almost 200,000 pilgrims have registered to take part in the festival, which starts on July 15. Planned events include a re-enactment of the 12 stations of the cross and a walking pilgrimage by tens of thousands of participants across the Sydney harbour bridge.
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