"Does shouting the words 'Hey Sexy Lady' and 'Jihad Gun' amount to a criminal offence? am missing something?"
Mate I'm glad you came back. I wanted to write a decent response to the core of your original question before this thread got railroaded... But didn't really wanna waste my time if you didn't read it because I’m not interested in engaging with some of the nonsense that has happened on your thread and i figured you'd have lost interest because of those response.
so to answer your questions.
I'm gonna make some comparisons to the USA - Not assuming you're American. But just because it might be beneficial in answering your questions because the similarities between the two countries is obvious.
So let's look at the "GUN" bit first.
Australia has some pretty strict weapon laws. Carrying a knife is illegal. So in comparison to the USA where the 'right to bear arms' is enshrined in the constitution. There you can carry guns. Here you can't even carry a knife. Mate, I know you didn't have a gun. But, our strict gun laws would have contributed towards causing fear among those around you on that day. That leads to the next bit.
Jihad - Now this is where the s**t hit the fan.... throw that one in with the use of the word GUN.... and we've got a problem... I can well imagine the fear you caused others. So to compare with the USA - where the first amendment to the constitution is the right to freedom of speech. We have no such thing. What we do have is some very strict anti- terror laws. Which have been heavily criticised by our own human rights commission.
"The Commission has been critical of attempts to enact counter-terrorism laws without adequate scrutiny of their human rights implications."
This guide provides a basic overview of Australia’s counter-terrorism laws from a human rights perspective. It discusses the following questions:
humanrights.gov.au
The Jihad bit was where I reckon you went wrong BIG TIME. This also needs to be considered in the light of the fact that Sydney has been exposed to acts of terrorism in recent times.
So 18 months for doing something very stupid while drunk? Look, all we have here is the details you provided and by your own admission you’re your recollection was affected by alcohol and I’m guessing your mental health issues. So based on that let me continue.
So I'm walking the streets of Sydney. I see a bloke acting irrationally - Calling out "Jihad GUN" and directing it at security guards. I'm s**t scared. Feeling Threatened? YUP Intimidated? YEP. As would everyone around you. It warrants police intervention. As or the 18 months – I’m not gonna express an opinion because I am not a judge and I didn’t have the facts the judge had. That said…
There is an argument that this could have been dealt with under anti-terror legislation and that would potentially see you sentence to more than 10 yrs and upon release you could have your visa rejected and you'd be sent back to your country of origin (assuming you were not born here - sorry if my assumption is wrong). There are cases where people who came to Australia as toddlers have been returned to their country of origin 40-50 years after arrival. Sickening in my opinion that we could remove a person to their 'country of origin' when they don't speak the language or have any capacity to fend for themselves. But those laws do exist in Australia and goes towards answering your question about the laws. I’m glad for you that the police didn’t go down the anti-terror law line of argument.
Now I wish I could leave skin colour out of this. But that would be naive. In America - "we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are born equal" American Declaration of Independence - 1776. Clearly they meant WHITE MEN. So nope no racial equality there. Men and women of colour were excluded as were white women. In Australia one of the first pieces of legislation passed by our Federal Government in 1901 was the "Immigration restriction Act" 1901 - Commonly known as the 'white Australia policy', so there is an established history going back to the early days of the Federation of Australia of racism...
Let’s move forward to modern times. The "Black Lives Matter" movement has come to the fore of public attention in the last year or so in both America and Australia. It is fair to say racism is prevalent in the USA today and it would be naive to say that racism doesn’t exist in Australia, both on the street level and within institutions. But, I'm a white guy, so I'm not telling you anything you didn't already know and while I'm read up on stuff and have empathy for you. I don't have the lived experience of racism. In short you know racism in a way I don't and I wish that wasn't true, I really do.
Sad fact - every kid in the Northern Territory who is in juvenile detention is Aboriginal. Every single one. So racism within our criminal justice system. YEP Australia is guilty.
Policy for dealing with youth crime among Aboriginal children labelled ‘inhumane, costly and does not work’
www.theguardian.com
In 2007 one of the highest rating tv shows in the country was "Summer Heights High" where the main character was painted brown to imitate / mock Pacific Islanders. This is not too dissimilar to "blackface" 'comedy' in the USA.
A popular tv show did a revival show some years back where Harry Connick Junior was appalled by similar racism. Click through to about the 6min mark on the youtube.
Like I said it would be naive to say racism isn't prevalent here. Something you know better than me and to be honest, some of the responses here also have demonstrated racism on the street level is prevalent. I wish that wasn't the case.
And as I demonstrated early on in this thread, there is no doubt that our prisons house people who committed crimes but had mental health issues and I reckon our society would be a better one if we showed more compassion to those suffering from mental health issues just as we would be a better country if we faced up to racism.
Not good reading so far.... And I don't think it is gonna get any better.
For what is is worth I hope you are doing well since your release from jail and I hope the fact that more folk on this site spoke up in your defence than attacked you gives you some reason to think that this is a good country.
Thanks for reading my rant and I hope it helps give you some insights into answering your question about the laws.
For what it is worth I’m going to apologise that your question here resulted in you copping responses that were hurtful this is a good website that often provides accurate opinion about legal matters.
I’m impressed with the composure and integrity you’ve shown in responding to those comments.
Cheers
Sammy.