Wahroonga Friends Bulletin - 18 February 2026
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Wahroonga Friends Bulletin - 18 February 2026
First Nations Activists Lead Constitutional
Challenge To Minns’ Anti-Protest Regime
First Nations activists alongside a broad coalition opposed to the Minns government’s anti-protest laws have put forward a case challenging the constitutional validity of the laws, which is set for hearing on February 26. Since the Public Assembly Restriction Declaration has now lapsed, they’re asking for changes to the Major Events Act. The group says that NSW Premier Chris Minns’ anti-protest laws and demonisation of pro-Palestine protestors incited mass police violence against peaceful demonstrators last Monday night during the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The government announced it had declared the visit a major event under the Major Events Act. The legislation is typically invoked to manage crowds during sporting events, such as March’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup.
As part of their call for accountability and justice, the group is demanding changes to the Major Events Act (2009), to remove the current restrictions on the civil liability of police. Under the Major Events legislation, which was at play during the violence clash between police and protesters on Monday, police are given more powers to control protesters, while at the same time limiting police liability for anyone harmed by police while implementing those powers.
Paul Silva, a Dhungutti activist involved in the litigation, said:
“As a sovereign Dhungutti man I have refused to accept the Minns’ government’s attempt to silence our voices. The Public Assembly Restriction Declaration (PARD) was first altered to facilitate our march on Invasion Day after we pledged to defy any laws that stopped us marching.“Aboriginal people were also on the front lines in support of our Palestinian brothers and sisters last Monday night and called for the crowd to take the streets. The attack against us was completely unprovoked… But we will not be intimidated and will continue to campaign in the courts and on the streets to remove all restrictions on our rights to demonstrate and speak freely.”
Days after the Bondi massacre the government passed laws giving police the discretion to ban authorised public assemblies, a fortnight at a time, for up to three months following a terror attack. Protest groups are challenging the law underpinning the prohibition which has been extended four times already.
However on Tuesday, NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon announced that the controversial restrictions on protests in Sydney’s CBD and eastern suburbs had not been extended. The laws have been in place since Christmas Eve.
The laws grant police the power to refuse authorisation for public protests for up to 90 days after a terrorist incident, restricting demonstrations in certain areas. The restrictions do not actually ban protests but rather remove certain legal protections for protesters, including exemptions relating to traffic obstruction and public order offences.
“Now that the PARD is no longer in place, and the LECC (Law Enforcement Conduct Commission) has established a full investigation, it’s time for the government to fix the harm that it has done,” says Greens MP Sue Higginson. “That’s why I’m calling for the Government to guarantee that any civil compensation arising from police violence at the Town Hall assembly, will not be avoided through the Major Events declaration that the Premier made.” First Nations Activists Challenge Minns’ Anti-Protest Regime
Whistles are a Symbol of Resistance Amid Trump’s ICE Crackdown. Some Say They Hurt More Than They Help
Over the past year, whistles have become a symbol of the collective resistance of ordinary people standing up to federal immigration enforcement. As the Trump administration expands its immigration crackdown to cities and towns across the US, people are relying on whistles to warn their neighbors about the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. But not all activists agree on their efficacy. Some organizers, including those in rural areas of the US, say that whistles can heighten panic in the communities they serve. Others say they can create unnecessary confusion for children, the elderly and those with disabilities.
When a few grassroots organizations across the country, from Washington state to Maryland, posted on social media about their decision to keep whistles out of their activism, a debate exploded online. But scholars of social movements say that tactical adaptability is a healthy part of organizing, as coalitions emerge, coalesce and continue to transform to meet the needs on the ground.
“I see this actually as a sign that the movement is actually listening to the people they claim to care about,” said Fernando Tormos-Aponte, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh who studies social movements.
How whistles became a symbol of solidarity
On a late August weekend in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, as crowds gathered for an annual art fair, volunteers handed out an unexpected item alongside their crafts: bright plastic whistles.
“Things had already heated up in Los Angeles,” said Teresa Magaña, a co-founder of the Pilsen Arts and Community House, referring to the immigration enforcement raids that swept the city in the summer of 2025. Later that summer, Chicago, too, had been threatened with federal occupation. “Everybody at that time was feeling very helpless, like, what do we do?” The whistles were part of an instant community alert system that activists in Los Angeles had begun using to warn neighbors when ICE agents were afoot.
In Pilsen – a historically Mexican Lower West Side neighborhood with deep activist roots – Magaña and locals in the maker community saw a tangible way to respond. They initially ordered whistles in bulk online to distribute for free, but within weeks, local 3D printing enthusiasts reached out, offering to produce them instead.
Now, six months later, Magaña estimates that the grassroots volunteer operation they launched back when Trump set off “Operation Midway Blitz” that rounded up hundreds of Chicagoans has distributed close to 30,000 whistles, shipping orders to organizers and volunteers in roughly 25 states
The group has also produced nearly 100,000 copies of a bilingual zine that explains how the alert system works: blow in short blasts if ICE is “driving or lurking” and blow continuously “if ICE is abducting someone”. If someone hears a whistle, they should go somewhere to be safe or “follow the sound, form a crowd, and stay loud”.
“People are seeing each other and connecting in ways they never had before,” Magaña said.
Whistles have helped families in real time, according to Veronica, a lead organizer with Migra Whistle, Portland, Oregon’s ICE alert whistle coalition who declined to share her last name over fears of being tracked by immigration authorities. The term “migra” – Spanish slang for immigration enforcement, or “inmigración” – has been used as a warning call for neighbors to be on the lookout for ICE.
Now, with whistles around their necks, “migra watchers” on bikes or in cars, can identify unmarked vehicles believed to belong to ICE, confirm their presence and then blow a whistle to alert the area. Sometimes neighbors honk their horns, amplifying the signal.
“They don’t like to be noticed,” Veronica said of federal agents. “They do run away from it.”
The idea for Migra Whistle developed last September after Veronica attended a conference about mobilizing community power. There, she heard about whistles being used in other cities as a safety tool. Back in Portland, she connected with a small group of people, including someone experimenting with a 3D printer, and floated the idea.
“It just took off like wildfire,” she said.
Within days, her organization’s group chat ballooned to more than 150 people. Some volunteered to print whistles overnight, while others folded zines, sourced yarn for lanyards, or filled sandwich baggies for distribution. The effort was deliberately decentralized.
“There’s no cap on ideas,” Veronica said. “It’s as decentralized as it can be.”
Today, volunteers help produce hundreds – sometimes thousands – of whistles a week. Some stay in Oregon while others are shipped to Minnesota, Texas and Colorado, among other places, where similar groups have formed. Whistle organizing has strengthened community ties, say organizers, reawakening once dormant networks of people and bringing new energy to neighborhood spaces.
How resistance tactics shift to meet the moment
But not all advocates have had the same experience with whistles.
Late last month in Shoreline, a city about 10 miles north of Seattle, a volunteer was documenting the detention of Ivan Guzman, a Mexican immigrant father and cook. Guzman was driving his two-year-old son to daycare on a Sunday morning when masked and armed federal agents surrounded his car with four vehicles at a busy intersection.
As officers arrested Guzman and placed him in one of the unmarked cars, advocates say Guzman’s toddler remained in the backseat of an ICE vehicle for more than a half hour. As ICE agents waited for the child’s mother to arrive at the scene, the volunteer began writing down badge numbers, taking video recordings of the immigration agents, and gathering contact information to notify additional family members and lawyers in the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN). Then, people with whistles began to show up and blow. Read more here Whistles are a symbol of resistance amid Trump’s ICE crackdown. Some say they hurt more than they help | ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
See - What is Discernment?
Discernment, on the most basic level, is about differentiating my will versus God’s will,” JT Dorr-Bremme explains. Although it often takes place within the whole of a Quaker meeting, or among members of a committee, it can be as simple as one Friend turning to another for help thinking through an important decision. See it here What is Discernment?
3-6 April 2026 Junior Young Friends (JYFs) ages 12-17@ Anglesea, Victoria
I am writing to let you know about an upcoming JYF camp on 3-6 April 2026.
The camp is for Junior Young Friends (JYFs) ages 12-17, in Anglesea, Victoria.The chance to build community at camp is especially important given the current 18 month break between our national in person gatherings, from July 2025 to Jan 2027.
We are expecting 8-10 JYFs to attend along with parent helpers and Young Friends (YFs) as leaders. Some of these may approach Regional Meeting for financial support to attend this event. The cost of the event is $150 per camper, and costs for travel from around Australia will likely be more than this figure. We encourage regional meetings to be generous in supporting any requests made. Contact me for any details you may require at cjyfcoo...@quakersaustralia.infoJo Temme
Children and Families CoordinatorQuakers Australia
Saturday 5 - 8 pm 14 March
AUKUS: $34 Million/day for 30 Years
And rising!! Are We Any Safer?
Despite the overwhelming concerns around the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine deal from academics, politicians, and senior military experts, alongside the general public, the Australian Labor Government remains committed to this deal orchestrated by Scott Morrison!
Polling by the Australia Institute indicates that the Australian community is less than impressed.
54% of Australians now want a more independent foreign policy. 66% support or strongly support a Parliamentary Inquiry into AUKUS and fewer than half (49%) believe the agreement would make Australia safer.
This free community event aims to bring to the broader community 3 experts to present facts and views to shape, inform and broaden our knowledge on these critical foreign policy issues. Speakers include Dr Emma Shortis, Australia Institute director of the International & Security Affairs Program; Senator David Shoebridge, Associate Professor Jamie Reilly, University of Sydney academic and expert on north-east Asian politics.
5:00: Check-in, seating, light refreshments available
6pm: Opening
6:05: Panel discussion facilitated by Dr Emma Shortis
7:20: Q & A
7:50: Close, light refreshments available
Register here https://events.humanitix.com/aukus-public-meeting
Free Quaker Books AvailableHelen Gould is simplifying her life and is offering many of her Quaker and other books to whoever wants them. She has 2 copies of Plain Living: a Quaker Path to Simplicity, and is happy to pass both of them on. Helen is not expecting any reimbursement for either the book or the postage, just that the books be used, and perhaps passed on again in due course. Contact Helen by email at helen...@gmail.com
February QBC -
A Quaker Reading of Mark's Gospel
To See the InvisibleThe February QBC (Quaker Book Club ) selection is A Quaker Reading of Mark's Gospel, To See the Invisible by Patricia Dallmann.
Though in accord with the faith and message of these first Friends, Dallmann offers insights that are original and, at times, accompanied by illustrations from her own life.
In story after story and chapter after chapter of Mark's Gospel, Patricia Dallmann approaches the text with senses attuned to the Light Within, an orientation in keeping with that of seventeenth-century Friends (Quakers).
Mark's Gospel is seen to be a practical guide that stands ready in every age to alert those of living faith to the dangers they will face, the responsibilities they must assume, and the Spirit they will embody while navigating their passage through the world.
Mindful of the inward reality to which the Gospel alludes, Dallmann provides paths of understanding that have been found in Truth and are presented with reason. Thus, readers will find this book to be a clear, sound, and useful examination of the Gospel of Mark. Obtain a copy here https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/a-quaker-reading-of-marks-gospel-9798385251452.do
e - Wahroonga Send news of f/Friends and newsletter items to quiver...@yahoo.com.au Agenda items for Business Meeting should be emailed at wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info or handed to a co-clerk. Visit us at "Our Home" First days (Sunday), 9.30 am Meeting for Worship - Wahroonga Friends Meeting, your local peace church. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) 59 Boundary Road Wahroonga NSW 2076 Email:wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info Web: Wahroonga Local Meeting | Australia Yearly Meeting A Zoom meeting occurs 9.30 am Sundays Meeting link Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting 918 558 7747 Passcode: 55462 Phone: 02 8015 6011 Please contact Paul Carter if you have any problems
First Nations Activists Lead Constitutional
Challenge To Minns’ Anti-Protest Regime
First Nations activists alongside a broad coalition opposed to the Minns government’s anti-protest laws have put forward a case challenging the constitutional validity of the laws, which is set for hearing on February 26. Since the Public Assembly Restriction Declaration has now lapsed, they’re asking for changes to the Major Events Act. The group says that NSW Premier Chris Minns’ anti-protest laws and demonisation of pro-Palestine protestors incited mass police violence against peaceful demonstrators last Monday night during the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The government announced it had declared the visit a major event under the Major Events Act. The legislation is typically invoked to manage crowds during sporting events, such as March’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup.
As part of their call for accountability and justice, the group is demanding changes to the Major Events Act (2009), to remove the current restrictions on the civil liability of police. Under the Major Events legislation, which was at play during the violence clash between police and protesters on Monday, police are given more powers to control protesters, while at the same time limiting police liability for anyone harmed by police while implementing those powers.
Paul Silva, a Dhungutti activist involved in the litigation, said:
“As a sovereign Dhungutti man I have refused to accept the Minns’ government’s attempt to silence our voices. The Public Assembly Restriction Declaration (PARD) was first altered to facilitate our march on Invasion Day after we pledged to defy any laws that stopped us marching.“Aboriginal people were also on the front lines in support of our Palestinian brothers and sisters last Monday night and called for the crowd to take the streets. The attack against us was completely unprovoked… But we will not be intimidated and will continue to campaign in the courts and on the streets to remove all restrictions on our rights to demonstrate and speak freely.”
Days after the Bondi massacre the government passed laws giving police the discretion to ban authorised public assemblies, a fortnight at a time, for up to three months following a terror attack. Protest groups are challenging the law underpinning the prohibition which has been extended four times already.
However on Tuesday, NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon announced that the controversial restrictions on protests in Sydney’s CBD and eastern suburbs had not been extended. The laws have been in place since Christmas Eve.
The laws grant police the power to refuse authorisation for public protests for up to 90 days after a terrorist incident, restricting demonstrations in certain areas. The restrictions do not actually ban protests but rather remove certain legal protections for protesters, including exemptions relating to traffic obstruction and public order offences.
“Now that the PARD is no longer in place, and the LECC (Law Enforcement Conduct Commission) has established a full investigation, it’s time for the government to fix the harm that it has done,” says Greens MP Sue Higginson. “That’s why I’m calling for the Government to guarantee that any civil compensation arising from police violence at the Town Hall assembly, will not be avoided through the Major Events declaration that the Premier made.” First Nations Activists Challenge Minns’ Anti-Protest Regime
Whistles are a Symbol of Resistance Amid Trump’s ICE Crackdown. Some Say They Hurt More Than They Help
Over the past year, whistles have become a symbol of the collective resistance of ordinary people standing up to federal immigration enforcement. As the Trump administration expands its immigration crackdown to cities and towns across the US, people are relying on whistles to warn their neighbors about the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. But not all activists agree on their efficacy. Some organizers, including those in rural areas of the US, say that whistles can heighten panic in the communities they serve. Others say they can create unnecessary confusion for children, the elderly and those with disabilities.
When a few grassroots organizations across the country, from Washington state to Maryland, posted on social media about their decision to keep whistles out of their activism, a debate exploded online. But scholars of social movements say that tactical adaptability is a healthy part of organizing, as coalitions emerge, coalesce and continue to transform to meet the needs on the ground.
“I see this actually as a sign that the movement is actually listening to the people they claim to care about,” said Fernando Tormos-Aponte, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh who studies social movements.
How whistles became a symbol of solidarity
On a late August weekend in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, as crowds gathered for an annual art fair, volunteers handed out an unexpected item alongside their crafts: bright plastic whistles.
“Things had already heated up in Los Angeles,” said Teresa Magaña, a co-founder of the Pilsen Arts and Community House, referring to the immigration enforcement raids that swept the city in the summer of 2025. Later that summer, Chicago, too, had been threatened with federal occupation. “Everybody at that time was feeling very helpless, like, what do we do?” The whistles were part of an instant community alert system that activists in Los Angeles had begun using to warn neighbors when ICE agents were afoot.
In Pilsen – a historically Mexican Lower West Side neighborhood with deep activist roots – Magaña and locals in the maker community saw a tangible way to respond. They initially ordered whistles in bulk online to distribute for free, but within weeks, local 3D printing enthusiasts reached out, offering to produce them instead.
Now, six months later, Magaña estimates that the grassroots volunteer operation they launched back when Trump set off “Operation Midway Blitz” that rounded up hundreds of Chicagoans has distributed close to 30,000 whistles, shipping orders to organizers and volunteers in roughly 25 states
The group has also produced nearly 100,000 copies of a bilingual zine that explains how the alert system works: blow in short blasts if ICE is “driving or lurking” and blow continuously “if ICE is abducting someone”. If someone hears a whistle, they should go somewhere to be safe or “follow the sound, form a crowd, and stay loud”.
“People are seeing each other and connecting in ways they never had before,” Magaña said.
Whistles have helped families in real time, according to Veronica, a lead organizer with Migra Whistle, Portland, Oregon’s ICE alert whistle coalition who declined to share her last name over fears of being tracked by immigration authorities. The term “migra” – Spanish slang for immigration enforcement, or “inmigración” – has been used as a warning call for neighbors to be on the lookout for ICE.
Now, with whistles around their necks, “migra watchers” on bikes or in cars, can identify unmarked vehicles believed to belong to ICE, confirm their presence and then blow a whistle to alert the area. Sometimes neighbors honk their horns, amplifying the signal.
“They don’t like to be noticed,” Veronica said of federal agents. “They do run away from it.”
The idea for Migra Whistle developed last September after Veronica attended a conference about mobilizing community power. There, she heard about whistles being used in other cities as a safety tool. Back in Portland, she connected with a small group of people, including someone experimenting with a 3D printer, and floated the idea.
“It just took off like wildfire,” she said.
Within days, her organization’s group chat ballooned to more than 150 people. Some volunteered to print whistles overnight, while others folded zines, sourced yarn for lanyards, or filled sandwich baggies for distribution. The effort was deliberately decentralized.
“There’s no cap on ideas,” Veronica said. “It’s as decentralized as it can be.”
Today, volunteers help produce hundreds – sometimes thousands – of whistles a week. Some stay in Oregon while others are shipped to Minnesota, Texas and Colorado, among other places, where similar groups have formed. Whistle organizing has strengthened community ties, say organizers, reawakening once dormant networks of people and bringing new energy to neighborhood spaces.
How resistance tactics shift to meet the moment
But not all advocates have had the same experience with whistles.
Late last month in Shoreline, a city about 10 miles north of Seattle, a volunteer was documenting the detention of Ivan Guzman, a Mexican immigrant father and cook. Guzman was driving his two-year-old son to daycare on a Sunday morning when masked and armed federal agents surrounded his car with four vehicles at a busy intersection.
As officers arrested Guzman and placed him in one of the unmarked cars, advocates say Guzman’s toddler remained in the backseat of an ICE vehicle for more than a half hour. As ICE agents waited for the child’s mother to arrive at the scene, the volunteer began writing down badge numbers, taking video recordings of the immigration agents, and gathering contact information to notify additional family members and lawyers in the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN). Then, people with whistles began to show up and blow. Read more here Whistles are a symbol of resistance amid Trump’s ICE crackdown. Some say they hurt more than they help | ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
See - What is Discernment?
Discernment, on the most basic level, is about differentiating my will versus God’s will,” JT Dorr-Bremme explains. Although it often takes place within the whole of a Quaker meeting, or among members of a committee, it can be as simple as one Friend turning to another for help thinking through an important decision. See it here What is Discernment?
3-6 April 2026 Junior Young Friends (JYFs) ages 12-17@ Anglesea, Victoria
I am writing to let you know about an upcoming JYF camp on 3-6 April 2026.
The camp is for Junior Young Friends (JYFs) ages 12-17, in Anglesea, Victoria.The chance to build community at camp is especially important given the current 18 month break between our national in person gatherings, from July 2025 to Jan 2027.
We are expecting 8-10 JYFs to attend along with parent helpers and Young Friends (YFs) as leaders. Some of these may approach Regional Meeting for financial support to attend this event. The cost of the event is $150 per camper, and costs for travel from around Australia will likely be more than this figure. We encourage regional meetings to be generous in supporting any requests made. Contact me for any details you may require at cjyfcoo...@quakersaustralia.infoJo Temme
Children and Families CoordinatorQuakers Australia
Saturday 5 - 8 pm 14 March
AUKUS: $34 Million/day for 30 Years
And rising!! Are We Any Safer?
Despite the overwhelming concerns around the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine deal from academics, politicians, and senior military experts, alongside the general public, the Australian Labor Government remains committed to this deal orchestrated by Scott Morrison!
Polling by the Australia Institute indicates that the Australian community is less than impressed.
54% of Australians now want a more independent foreign policy. 66% support or strongly support a Parliamentary Inquiry into AUKUS and fewer than half (49%) believe the agreement would make Australia safer.
This free community event aims to bring to the broader community 3 experts to present facts and views to shape, inform and broaden our knowledge on these critical foreign policy issues. Speakers include Dr Emma Shortis, Australia Institute director of the International & Security Affairs Program; Senator David Shoebridge, Associate Professor Jamie Reilly, University of Sydney academic and expert on north-east Asian politics.
5:00: Check-in, seating, light refreshments available
6pm: Opening
6:05: Panel discussion facilitated by Dr Emma Shortis
7:20: Q & A
7:50: Close, light refreshments available
Register here https://events.humanitix.com/aukus-public-meeting
Free Quaker Books AvailableHelen Gould is simplifying her life and is offering many of her Quaker and other books to whoever wants them. She has 2 copies of Plain Living: a Quaker Path to Simplicity, and is happy to pass both of them on. Helen is not expecting any reimbursement for either the book or the postage, just that the books be used, and perhaps passed on again in due course. Contact Helen by email at helen...@gmail.com
February QBC -
A Quaker Reading of Mark's Gospel
To See the InvisibleThe February QBC (Quaker Book Club ) selection is A Quaker Reading of Mark's Gospel, To See the Invisible by Patricia Dallmann.
Though in accord with the faith and message of these first Friends, Dallmann offers insights that are original and, at times, accompanied by illustrations from her own life.
In story after story and chapter after chapter of Mark's Gospel, Patricia Dallmann approaches the text with senses attuned to the Light Within, an orientation in keeping with that of seventeenth-century Friends (Quakers).
Mark's Gospel is seen to be a practical guide that stands ready in every age to alert those of living faith to the dangers they will face, the responsibilities they must assume, and the Spirit they will embody while navigating their passage through the world.
Mindful of the inward reality to which the Gospel alludes, Dallmann provides paths of understanding that have been found in Truth and are presented with reason. Thus, readers will find this book to be a clear, sound, and useful examination of the Gospel of Mark. Obtain a copy here https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/a-quaker-reading-of-marks-gospel-9798385251452.do
e - Wahroonga Send news of f/Friends and newsletter items to quiver...@yahoo.com.au Agenda items for Business Meeting should be emailed at wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info or handed to a co-clerk. Visit us at "Our Home" First days (Sunday), 9.30 am Meeting for Worship - Wahroonga Friends Meeting, your local peace church. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) 59 Boundary Road Wahroonga NSW 2076 Email:wmnwah...@quakersaustralia.info Web: Wahroonga Local Meeting | Australia Yearly Meeting A Zoom meeting occurs 9.30 am Sundays Meeting link Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting 918 558 7747 Passcode: 55462 Phone: 02 8015 6011 Please contact Paul Carter if you have any problems
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