Special Powers for a Weapons Fair: A Dangerous New Precedent

In my years as a GP, I learned that a good diagnosis requires looking past the surface. You do not just treat the fever: you look for the infection causing it. Today, the House is debating the Land Forces Event (Special Powers) Bill 2026. On its face, it is a management plan for a weapons exposition. But look closer, and you see something far more systemic: the normalization of special powers.

The sliding scale of state control

Special powers are only special as long as they are rare. When they become the recurring answer to every major event, they cease to be temporary anomalies and start to become the baseline for our society. We are drifting toward a future where our basic freedoms are subject to the discretion of an agency, rather than being our inherent right.

We have been asked to accept this bill because of the risk of protest-related violence. Yet, as a society, we must ask if we are creating the very conditions we fear. Are we fostering a community where peace is the default, or are we simply building bigger fences and wider cordons? The immediate danger to your family isn't just a protest: it is the realization that in 2026, we are being conditioned to accept that our movement, privacy, and right to dissent can be suspended on a whim.

If you want to stay informed about how these legislative shifts affect your daily life and our collective future, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel at my channel here. It is where we break down the complex reality of what is happening in the Legislative Council.

The price of protection

What strikes me is the list of prohibited items. Since when is a bicycle lock or a simple glass jar considered a danger to the state? When we start defining ordinary, everyday objects as contraband because they might be used in a protest, we are not protecting safety; we are criminalizing the act of being present. This isn't just bureaucracy: it is a waiting room where our democratic rights are left to atrophy.

I have often said that a free person in a free country has the right to live in peace, provided they do not harm others. Yet this bill moves us further from that ideal. We are trading our ability to question power for the illusion of a sanitized public square. The real cost isn't just the inconvenience of road closures or checkpoints; it is the precedent we leave behind for the next government and the next crisis.

A call for something better

We need a state that values evidence over optics. While the major parties play politics with police powers, we must look at the science of social cohesion. Peace is built on education, transparency, and trust, not on metal detectors and restricted zones.

You can read the full, often sobering transcript of the debate here to understand exactly what is being authorized in our name. If you are ready to stand up for a state that prioritizes people and transparency over the convenience of arms dealers, I invite you to join the growing movement at Legalise Cannabis WA. It is time we brought a medical approach back to our politics: honesty, evidence, and humanity.