WA Police have been given extra powers to protect the upcoming Land Forces defence expo in Perth next month.
The event is due to run from October 6-8 but the new police powers will run from October 1-10.
The new laws were approved by WA Parliament in a bid to ensure the land defence expo will not be disrupted by protests as happened at the 2024 event in Melbourne.
Land Forces 2026 will be held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre and is expected to attract up to 20,000 domestic and international delegates.
The WA Government says the new powers will run before and after the expo with a protective zone around the centre during the expo, including for setting-up and packing-down.
WA POLICE POWERS BOOST
Within this protective zone, police will be able to set up checkpoints, cordons, and roadblocks, stop people and vehicles from entering, and to direct people to leave or search them.
The state government says the right to peacefully protest ‘must be balanced’ with the need to maintain public safety.
It has allocated $11.5 million in the 2026-27 State Budget to support the expo.
Police Minister Reece Whitby says MPs have “put community safety first to get this important legislation passed”.
“This legislation is about making sure police have the powers they need to keep people safe and effectively manage Land Forces, while respecting the right to peacefully protest,” he says.
“We saw the scenes that occurred when Land Forces was held in Melbourne in 2024, and we do not want to see anything like that here in Perth, which is why it is crucial these laws have now passed.”
ON THE AGENDA: Topics for meetings at this year’s Perth expo will include supply chains, army research findings, dinner, private partnerships, defence exports, AI warfare, defence industry workforce, digital warfare, drones and European defence opportunities for Australia. Expo program: Land Forces International Land Defence Expo.
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