Media release – Guy Barnett, Minister for State Development, Construction and Housing, 25 August 2022

Keeping Tasmanian workers safe in their workplace

The Tasmanian Liberal Government has consistently fought to protect Tasmanian workers and allow them to go to work safely, without threat from extremists who invade workplaces and endanger employees.

This is the purpose of the Government’s Workplace Protection legislation and we will continue to support the Bill’s passage through the Parliament as long as it delivers better protections for workers and their workplaces.

Intimidating, threatening and endangering employees will never be acceptable. We’ve been elected three times with policies designed to protect the rights of workers and to deter unlawful interference with workplaces.

The Tasmanian Government respects the right to protest and every Tasmanian’s right to free speech, but it is also important this is not at the expense of the right to lawfully work or run a business.

We are amending the Police Offences Act to ensure that our police are able to better protect workers and businesses through strengthening trespass and obstruction laws.

We will continue to monitor very closely interferences with businesses and whether more needs to be done to provide a deterrent from unlawful and unsafe protest activity, including the consequences of Labor not supporting efforts to stop those seeking to obstruct the entry to businesses.

The Government is disappointed Labor has again let down workers by not supporting this Bill.

It would seem that instead of throwing its support behind Tasmanian workers, Labor has again preferred to stand side-by-side with the Greens and the Bob Brown Foundation.

Media release – Bob Brown Foundation, 25 August 2022

Draconian anti-protest laws clear Tasmania’s Legislative Council

With the passage of the Police Offences Amendment (Workplace Protection) Bill 2022 through the Legislative Council, the government’s draconian attack on public protest will return to the House of Assembly, perhaps as soon as today.

“Amendments made to the bill in the Legislative Council temper some aspects of the bill, but they do not address the fundamentally anti-democratic nature of this attempt to silence protest, particularly its intent to financially ruin and gaol citizens engaged in environmental protest,” said Bob Brown Foundation takayna Campaigner Scott Jordan.

“This bill was always aimed directly at our foundation and our successful, popular campaigns. It is the government of big business pandering to logging, mining and fish-farming corporations, many of which drain their profits out of Tasmania, to stifle our spotlight on their destruction of Tasmania’s beautiful environment and wildlife. It won’t work. It will have no effect on our intention to campaign for Tasmania’s beauty, naturalness and wildlife,” said Bob Brown.

“There are many more than me, and many younger than me, who will not be deterred from peacefully protecting Tasmania’s seas, forests and wildlife. The government, bowing to corporate thuggery, is criminalising effective peaceful protest while legalising seal shooting, owl destruction and parrot extinction. It is up to all citizens to determine for themselves what to do in this age of such deliberated destruction of nature.”

Bob Brown Foundation thanks MLCs Webb, Valentine, Gaffney, Armitage and Lovell for voting against the bill and in defence of the right to protest. BBF will continue its campaigns to defend Tasmania’s wild places.

Media release – Cassy O’Connor MP – Greens Leader, 25 August 2022

Upper House Votes to Undermine Democracy

It’s a sad day for Tasmania’s democracy.

With its passage through the Legislative Council, the Liberal Government’s savagely undemocratic and unnecessary anti-protest legislation is all but certain to become law.

Debate confirmed five MLCs listened to the deep concerns of the Aboriginal community, unions, NGOs, environment groups, young climate activists and the wider community.

In contrast, six other MLCs gave their ears, attention and votes to a small number of vested interests, including a Chinese state owned mining company intent on trashing the Takayna rainforest.

Meg Webb, Rob Valentine, Mike Gaffney, Rosemary Armitage, and Sarah Lovell all deserve credit for voting to uphold the right to peaceful protest.

Liberal MLCs Leonie Hiscutt, Jane Howlett, and Jo Palmer, and independents Ruth Forrest, Tania Rattray, and Dean Harriss deserve no credit or thanks. Each of them undermined this island’s long, proud history of peaceful protest and contributed to a less democratic lutruwita/Tasmania.

There have been some modest improvements to this Bill through amendments, but fundamentally it remains as it was – an assault on free speech and the right to peaceful protest. It’s questionable whether it’s even constitutional.

Tasmania is in the midst of a health and housing crisis, a devastating Commission of Inquiry, and an ongoing pandemic. Rather tackling these critical issues, the Rockliff Government has prioritised laws designed to lock people up for exercising their democratic rights.

Well, they’d better build bigger jails.

These laws will not crush the democratic, protective spirit of Tasmanians who engage in peaceful protest to defend human rights, protect places like Takayna and champion a safe climate.

Media release – Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA), 26 August 2022

Anti-protest laws are undemocratic and will fail to protect Tasmanian jobs and communities

The Police Offences Amendment (Workplace Protection) Bill 2022 has passed Tasmania’s Upper House with a number of amendments but, despite the changes, the Bill remains unnecessary and disproportionate, says the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).

“The Bill passed by the Legislative Council is undemocratic and too broad in scope,” said Fabiano Cangelosi, Tasmanian barrister and spokesperson for the ALA.

“It completely ignores the legitimate role of protest in civil society as a means of improving it. It seems that the fundamental concern of the proponents of the legislation is the pursuit of profit at the expense of society.

“The legislation will do nothing at all to protect Tasmanian jobs, and nothing at all to protect resource reliant communities. Its only effect will be the chilling of political discourse in the wider community.

“There are ample existing powers in the current Police Offences Act. These additional laws are simply not needed.

“We already have sufficient laws in place to protect businesses and other organisations and we do not need more authoritarian legislation designed to restrict the freedom of individuals.”

Media release – Grassroots Action Network Tas, 26 August 2022

ANTI-PROTEST LAWS AN ASSAULT ON DEMOCRACY

Anti-protest laws yesterday passed the Tasmanian Legislative Council for the third time in 25 years. The bill will see peaceful protestors face incarceration and hefty fines for engaging in actions that disrupt business operations, and has been met with significant opposition from civil society, unions, and the wider community.

The laws have been entangled in controversy since conception, with the forestry and mining industries being key drivers. Founded concerns have been raised around abnormal parliamentary processes, with industry lobbyists being allowed to secretly observe community briefings without the consent or knowledge of MLCs present. The same lobbyists were permitted to give confidential briefings of their own.

A grassroots campaign led by civil society, unions, and the wider community made significant ground over the parliamentary winter break, with the tone and voting patterns of MLCs changing notably. This resulted in a number of amendments being passed, including the removal of increased punishment for street protest. Calls for the bill to be scrapped entirely have remained steadfast.

In its current form, the bill will see citizens face up to 1 year in prison for a first offense of peaceful protest, and 2 years for a second. It has been criticised widely for being punitive and a direct assault on democracy.

Hugh Nicklason, Organiser, Grassroots Action Network Tasmania:

“These laws amount to state capture, and are driven primarily by profit motives from multinational corporations. Tasmania currently has non-existent political donations laws and the weakest anti-corruption commission in the country. We need real solutions to the issues that divide our society, not laws that will see concerned citizens put behind bars.”

“Protest is ingrained in Tasmanian society. If our Government thinks that they can alter our very culture through law, they are wrong. This bill may be chilling, but it will not be successful in quashing our resistance.”

“Ecological collapse, growing inequality, and a global siege on democracy demand action. We have a moral obligation to break unjust laws. Our mission to organise for a liveable and more equitable future will continue, regardless of the consequences.”

Fabiano Cangelosi, Australian Lawyers Alliance:

“The legislation is undemocratic and sweeping. It completely ignores the legitimate role of protest. It will do nothing at all to protect Tasmanian jobs, and nothing at all to protect resource reliant communities. Its only effect will be the chilling of political discourse in the wider community. It reflects the debasement of the legislative organ of our government to protect profit at the expense of society.”

Tim Jacobson, Secretary, Health and Community Services Union

“The passage of these new laws will have a chilling effect on our democracy. While the bill has been built on the premise of protecting workers, it will do nothing of the sort. If the government wanted to improve the safety of workplaces, they could have come and asked us how to do so. We can propose a raft of measures – none of which include cracking down on democratic rights. The trade union movement is built on protest and we stand in solidarity with activists and community groups who oppose the Rockliff government’s draconian crackdown on fundamental rights.”

Jess Coughlan, Campaigner, Neighbours of Fish Farming.

“Some of the greatest progressive change in Tasmania has been born through protest, and the unique environment we can be proud of today, that the rest of the world values so highly as demonstrated through tourism, has been protected by protest. This bill flies in the face of community and democracy, and we thank those elected members who stood for those values and voted no today.”

Owen Fitzgerald, Student Climate Activist

“The anti protest laws are unfair and unjust. It removes all aspects of Tasmanian democracy and removes the right the youth have to their own future. The bill criminalises activists for standing up for themselves and what they believe in. A person does not want to be an activist. You become an activist when your own government refuses to listen, you become an activist to make change. If our governments listens they would not be making these laws, if they took the youth seriously; we would not be protesting, for our futures. Students do not want to be activists, we have to be. This government refuses to listen and we will keep fighting no matter the price, because our government won’t listen.”

Ana Pike, Disability Pride Lutruwita/Tasmania

“Today is a sad day for our democracy here in Tasmania with certain members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council voting to enact the legislation to halt certain types of protest and increase penalties, despite big push back from multiple groups. Protesting is our fundamental right and it has proven highly effective in bringing about the rights and privileges we enjoy today. They say they have done this to protect workers and stop certain types of disruptive protest, but with the silencing of our voices, what will happen is more groups taking direct action.”