Melbourne photojournalist Alex Zucco was cleaning her camera lens when a police officer hit her directly in the face with a stream of capsicum spray at a protest outside the Melbourne Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition last year.

In July this year, a police officer allegedly punched former Greens candidate Hannah Thomas in the face at a pro-Palestine rally, seriously injuring her eye.

Lawyers and activists say these incidents fit a pattern of increased police force against protesters –  including so-called ‘less-lethal’ tools such as baton rounds, flash-bang devices and capsicum spray.

Today, journalist and author Ariel Bogle on how decades of restricting the right to protest have created a permissive environment for the use of force by police.

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Guest: Journalist and author, Ariel Bogle

Photo: Alex Zucco / SOPA Images/Sipa USA

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