Queensland Cartoonist Warned His Pro-Palestine Art is Illegal
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James Hillier, aka Nordacious, has been told to take down some of his political cartoons because they now break the law after the state of Queensland in Australia passed new laws earlier this month.
From Catie McLeod at The Guardian: Brisbane artist contacted by police over works that allegedly violate new Queensland hate speech laws
Known for political commentary in his work, the Brisbane-based visual artist James Hillier was shocked to learn he could face jail time for some of his designs.
Hillier, who goes by the name Nordacious, said he had removed three artworks relating to Palestine from his website after police told him some of his pieces allegedly violated Queensland’s new hate speech laws.
The artist said police called him on 25 March, two weeks after the state became the first in Australia to outlaw the slogans “from the river to the sea” and “globalise the intifada”, both of which are used to show solidarity with Palestine.
The Crisafulli government’s controversial hate speech laws make expressing or publishing the slogans – if doing so would “menace, harass or offend” – punishable with up to two years in prison…
Paul Gregoire at Sydney Criminal Lawyers: Banning Political Slogans: The Absurd New Way to Stamp Out Pro-Palestinian Support
The nation was stunned when at a small protest march on Wednesday, 11 March 2026, Queensland police arrested a man for explaining the phrase “from the river to the sea” to a rally in Magan-djin-Brisbane, and also took a woman into custody for wearing a singlet displaying the slogan. Meanwhile, Sydneysiders gathered before state parliament on Tuesday, 17 March 2026 to protest a similar ban proposed for New South Wales.
Queensland police were able to arrest a 33-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman, as the Crisafulli government had passed a law banning two political slogans “from the river to the sea” and “globalise the intifada” the week prior, and the new measures had only just taken effect a few hours prior to the student rally, which was flanked by riot police.
The idea to ban certain slogans, or more specifically pro-Palestinian phrases, initially came from NSW premier Chris Minns late last year, in the immediate wake of the 14 December 2025 Bondi Beach massacre. The fact that the mass murder on Gadigal land in Sydney’s east was inspired by ISIS, which is a group opposed to the Palestinian cause, didn’t seem to matter or register in the upper echelons.
But banning political phrases is not such a straightforward idea…
From Matt Dennien at The Sydney Morning Herald: ‘From the river to the sea’, and into police sights, for Brisbane artists (or here).
Hillier was opening the art and design store he also works at on Brisbane’s north on Wednesday and noticed a missed call from the police. Dialling back, he was told he’d been the subject of a complaint alleging a breach of the laws.
“They made some requests that I remove [website artwork] listings so that I’m in compliance. I spoke to legal counsel and complied with their requests as I continue to get legal advice,” Hillier told this masthead by phone on Saturday…
The Australian Cartoonists Association has issued a statement.
James Hillier, aka Nordacious, is a Brisbane freelance artist and cartoonist who makes art that he sells in the form of prints and on various merchandise. His content is frequently political and satirical. He works independently and is not represented or protected by an organisation or employer.
As part of the hastily designed Fighting Antisemitism and Keeping Guns out of the Hands of Terrorists and Criminals Amendment Bill 2026, the Queensland Government has criminalised terms/phrases often used by protesters against Israel’s conduct. The phrases in question have multiple meanings and are highly contested.
Following complaints to police, Hillier has been cautioned that some of his artwork, potentially even artwork that makes visual reference to the phrases but does not use them directly, is in violation of the law, and could land him in prison.
This is impossible to know for certain, since the brand new laws have not yet been tested. The wealthy can afford to test such laws in court. Freelance artists have to take their work down, hide and hope not to incur a huge legal bill.
The new law is doing its intended job, which is to chill protest and frighten people who, as far as they are concerned, are furious at the actions of a foreign state, and not at people of a particular religion.
This must be recognised as an inversion of the notion of safety and an impingement upon peoples’ rights to free speech and artistic expression. Suppression of dissent is a key characteristic of an authoritarian state, and one which we as a democratic country should strenuously resist.
We call upon the government of Queensland to withdraw its draconian new laws, and we call upon the other state, and federal, governments of Australia to recognise and uphold the rights of citizens and artists to dissent, as befits an open democracy.
Cathy Wilcox
PresidentDavid Blumenstein
Vice PresidentAustralian Cartoonists Association
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