Activists plan legal action against police ban on entering security zone near Perth weapons expo

Under new WA laws anyone who defies an exclusion order could face a maximum $36,000 fine and three years in prison

Activists and a Greens MP have threatened legal action after the Western Australia police banned at least 12 people entering a designated security area where the Land Forces weapons expo will be held in Perth from 6 October.

Two of the activists, 18-year-old Will Shanahan and 22-year-old Matilda Lane-Rose, said in a media conference held with the Greens MP Sophie McNeill on Friday they would take legal action if police and the police minister, Reece Whitby, did not revise the ban.

Lane-Rose told reporters the police called her on Thursday saying she had been placed on the exclusion list, despite having no plans to attend the protest against the expo, which is being organised by the WA Anti-War Collective.

The legislation used to ban her and 11 others, called the Land Forces (Special Powers) Bill 2026 was passed last month. It gives police expanded stop-and-search powers and the ability to ban people from entering a security zone that extends from the Elizabeth Quay bus port to the convention centre for 10 days.

The Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition event is held every two years and is Australia’s biggest weapons expo. The last event was held in 2024 in Melbourne, and attracted a large protest where police were accused of using excessive force.

The companies expected to exhibit at the expo are not listed on the Landforces website. Last month McNeill made public the list, which included an Australian subsidiary of Israel’s largest weapons company, Elbit Systems, and the state-owned company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

Whitby said in response to the protesters comments: “We want Land Forces to be a safe and secure environment for attendees, workers, exhibitors, protestors and the wider community.

“Each excluded person has a demonstrated history of posing a serious threat to people and/or property.”

McNeill accused the government of using the legislation to target peaceful climate activists.

“Instead, what we’ve seen is peaceful activists targeted … who didn’t even have any plans to be here in Perth next week. It’s outrageous.”

“I cannot sit and watch my home state be captured by global militarisation and be turned into an all-out police state,” Shanahan said.