Image: Source: Supplied / @nordacious
Brisbane artist James Hillier, known to many as Nordacious, has found himself at the centre of the Queensland Government’s new antisemitism laws.
Hillier, who is known for his colourful artwork featuring celebrity faces and slogans announced this week that he had been asked to remove his work.
In statement online he advised he was approached by Queensland Police to remove the work “containing words and slogans criminalised in Queensland.”
Queensland Police ask Nordacious to remove artwork
Three weeks ago Queensland Premier David Crisafulli announced new laws to tackle antisemitism.
As part of the Fighting Antisemitism and Keeping Guns Out of the Hands of Terrorists and Criminals Amendment Act 2026 the government banned two specific phrases from being used in Queensland.
The phrases included “from the river to the sea” and “globalise the intifada.”
With the new laws also comes potential punishment that can see those using the phrases to menace, harass, or offend facing up to two years in prison.
In response Hillier published several images to his Nordacious art page featuring the slogans.
The images included a person appearing to be detained by two dark figures whilst wearing a shirt with the slogan “from the river to the sea” as well as an image for John Farnham with the words “river to the sea” below it.
He also published an image featuring a caricature of Queensland Premier David Crisafulli pointing to a map of Queensland with the words “From Brisbane river to Moreton Bay: I’ll decide what you can say!”
Just two weeks later Hillier posted on social media announcing to his followers that Queensland Police had instructed him to remove the images.
“Earlier this week, Queensland Police contacted me regarding artworks I have published and listed online – works containing words and slogans criminalised in Queensland just three weeks ago, under new laws introduced by the Crisafulli government” he wrote.
“These laws carry a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment. I have removed those listings while I seek legal advice.”
Whilst he removed the images pending legal advice he questioned the implications of the laws on his artistic freedom.
“There’s something genuinely destabilising about being told your art is illegal. That the things you’ve illustrated – out of empathy, out of grief, out of a deep and sincere desire to see justice for people who have been crushed by systems far more powerful than them – could theoretically land you in prison. Particularly when every piece I make is grounded in the belief that all human beings deserve dignity, freedom and justice” he continued.
“My practice as an artist has always been shaped by my humanism. I stand against bigotry in every form, without exception. I also believe, deeply, in the right to speak freely about injustice. Including the injustice being visited upon the Palestinian people. That will not change.”
“I am continuing to engage with legal counsel and will have more to share at a later time” he concluded.
The post has drawn a huge response online with nearly 10,000 likes from fans nearly 700 comments including famous Queenslander Darren Hayes who labelled the news “very disturbing.”
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Speaking to The Star Observer Hillier questioned his right to political expression through art, something he says he values as part of a thriving democracy.
“Who are these laws designed to protect, and who are they being used to punish? Because right now, they appear to be weaponised against people expressing opposition to a genocide” he said.
“Art has always been the place where uncomfortable truths get shared. Satire, political commentary, protest art are foundational components of a healthy, thriving democracy.”
“I’m an editorial artist. My work has been exhibited at the Museum of Australian Democracy, in Behind The Lines five years running. This is what political art looks like. It punches up. It gives voice to the voiceless. It questions the powerful on behalf of the powerless. It critiques institutional power. It has always been this way.”
Hillier expressed his concerns about the impacts of the laws and their ability to allow people to protest and use their free speech.
“What we’re seeing in other democracies – police action against protest, against speech, against art, is now happening here. That should alarm everyone, regardless of where they sit politically.”
“What scares me most isn’t what’s happening to me specifically. It’s the precedent. These laws are, pretty clearly, being used as a mechanism to silence advocacy for Palestinians. To make people afraid. To make artists like me think twice before we say anything at all. That is a deeply sad place for Queensland – for Australia – to find itself.”
“We need a restoration of free speech and justice, the right to oppose a genocide without being treated like a criminal.”
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This story was originally published on Star Observer.
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