A photograph of an unconventional licence plate has caused a stir on social media after being circulated by a concerned passerby.
The licence plate in question was spotted in Maryborough, Queensland.
The plate bears the inscription ”Land of Terra Australis. R-80-AMB-001. Private Property. All Rights Reserved. People’s Court,” accompanied by various symbols, including an image of Australia.
The Reddit user who shared the photo requested assistance in interpreting the unusual number plate, prompting several others to speculate that it may belong to a sovereign citizen.
Many believed the plate belonged to a “sovereign citizen”, a term used to describe individuals who believe that they - not judges, juries, law enforcement, or elected officials - should decide which laws to obey and which to ignore.
They believe that they are not bound by government statutes unless they have given their consent and frequently use “loopholes” to evade paying taxes — and believe that maritime law should govern on land.
“Anyone know what rego plate this is?” the Reddit post asked.
“They tend to get their facts from Facebook and a lot of what they think is law (or isn’t law for that matter) is taken from misinterpretations of US constitutional law and not even relevant in Australia,” one user commented under the post.
“At the end of the day they still pay taxes and still utilise free education, healthcare, and local and state facilities, all the while under the protection of state and federal law.”
A similar sighting in Queensland was posted online in January, reading: “Private Property Non-commercial, Living Woman, Terra Australia Incognito, Removal of this incurs a $50,000 fine”.
Attention is turning to the bizarre movement – and what drives its members to commit such extreme acts of civil disobedience.
In Coffs Harbour, a woman was dragged from her vehicle after refusing to recognise the authority of Highway Patrol officers.
A similar case occurred in the Gold Coast in early December, when an unlicensed woman was eventually arrested after allegedly “trapping the officers … in the car window and refusing to follow directions”, according to Queensland Police.
The same month, a nearly identical incident happened in South Australia when a police sergeant was left with no choice but to smash the car window of a “sovereign citizen” who maintained he didn’t need a license to drive on state roads.
While the sovereign citizen movement has existed for many years, it had a resurgence in Australia during the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, which were among the toughest on earth.
Initially, anti-lockdown and sovereign citizen groups merged together through Facebook groups formed to organise Covid protests, where a range of conspiracy theories were shared widely.
But in late 2020, Facebook began cracking down on Covid disinformation, and many individuals and groups were barred from the platform, instead fleeing to alternatives like Telegram.
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