Transcript of media conference with David Shoebridge Greens Senator for NSW, Cassy O’Connor Greens MHA for Clark, Nick McKim Greens Senator for Tasmania, Bob Brown and Scott Jordan of Bob Brown Foundation, Kristy Alger of Animal Liberation Tasmania, Scott Bell of Extinction Rebellion and Dr Lisa Searle of Bob Brown Foundation at Bob Brown Foundation offices, Hobart, 20 December 2022.
David Shoebridge
Senator David Shoebridge, Greens Senator for New South Wales and also the party’s national justice spokesperson. We’re here today to kick off our campaign to get a national a national bill protecting the right to protest across the country. Whether it’s in Tasmania, New South Wales, Queensland or WA, state governments are attacking peaceful, nonviolent protesters, sending the police in to jail them and intimidate nonviolent protesters. Whether it’s out in the forests or out in the streets, whether it’s in front of a youth detention centre, or its people coming together for First Nations justice, activists and protesters, civil society has never been at such threat from their state governments.
We know that here in Tasmania, the state government has now had two attempts to try and further criminalise protests, particularly focused on the forestry industries. But if you look at what state governments are doing around the country, they are passing these laws to criminalise protest aimed at protecting the extractive industries, the logging industries and the fossil fuel industries. We’ve seen in my home state of New South Wales laws passed in the last 10 years that are aimed at putting protesters in jail for up to seven years if they stop a coal train. Or more recently, this year, we have seen laws passed by the New South Wales parliament aimed at putting protesters and activists in jail for up to two years simply if they stop traffic.
Those laws are totally disproportional and totally inappropriate in a civil and free society such as such as Australia. The good news is that Australia has international obligations to protect the right to protest. The good news is that the federal government and the federal parliament has the constitutional power to step up and protect the right to protest where state governments have failed. We have compelling constitutional legal advice from two constitutional experts who say that using the Commonwealth External Affairs power, the federal parliament can legislate to protect the right to protest.
So we’re saying to the Albanese government, if you’re serious about climate action, if you’re serious about protecting the environment, if you’re serious about First Nations justice, protect the people on the front line who are making that fight right now. Step up, legislate for a national right to protest, support the Greens’ bill, which will nationally provide a national protection for activists, whether they’re on the streets in Hobart, in the forest in the Tarkine, or facing down a coal train in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales.
Of course, there will always be the ability for police and other authorities to move people on and to remove people who are who are causing inconvenience in the course of protest. But that should not be followed up by a two, five or seven year prison sentence. We should not be imprisoning activists, we should not be imprisoning climate activists. The response that state governments should be having to the crises we’re following is to stop the logging. Keep the coal and gas in the ground and protect the future. Because it’s brave activists who are up in trees, who are standing in front of coal mines, who are trying to save our collective future. That’s what this bill is for.
We’re calling on the Albanese government to get behind and support it. We’ll be consulting with legal groups and activists, environmental campaigners, social justice campaigners, and critically First Nations people as we bring this bill into the parliament. And I’ll finish by saying this. Quite often when these extreme police powers are passed, when the ability to arrest and take people off the streets is exercised by police, too often it’s exercised against First Nations peoples. When First Nations peoples are stepping up and demanding treaty and truth, when First Nations peoples are stepping up and protecting their land and their water, they often face brutal police repression. If for no other reason, I call upon those parties – the Albanese Labor government and other parties – to get behind this, support the right to protest and we can all join together to protect our collective future. Thanks.
Cassy O’Connor
This beautiful island we share has a long, proud history of peaceful protest from Aboriginal and non Aboriginal Tasmanians, peacefully protesting for land rights and to change the date, workers peacefully protesting for better pay and conditions. And over decades, conservationists from Lake Pedder to the Franklin, Wesley Vale, the Tamar Valley, our beautiful forests, takayna, Ralph’s Bay … this is an island which has been made better by peaceful protest. And yet you’ve got a corporatist government which has passed legislation through the Tasmanian parliament that seeks to criminalise peaceful protest. This government would lock up our grandparents and our children given half a chance, and they need to understand you cannot arrest your way out of a climate and biodiversity crisis. And if they’re going to proceed down this path, as we’ve said many times before, they will need to build bigger jails. It is so important to our identity as islanders and Tasmanians, custodians of this beautiful place with the palawa people, that we have and nurture and treasure and defend that right to peaceful protest.
Bob Brown
I’m Bob. The right to the peaceful protest gave women the vote. It ended slavery. It got children out of the mines and into schools. And of course, it saved the Franklin, and Fraser Island and the Daintree. And I think it’s a brilliant move by David and Nick and the Greens to remind both the big parties in Canberra that they not only have the constitutional power, but they have the External Affairs power, well second time tested when the Franklin was saved by the High Court, to stop the excesses of state governments who want to criminalise protesters and reward the destroyers with millions of dollars of taxpayers money in subsidies. So this warrants the support of all the other parties in the federal parliament. It’s a small part effectively of a Human Rights Act. We don’t have one of those, but we do have this this right. Not only available to the federal government, but the federal government, the Albanese government, is obliged to uphold international law. And that obligation sits on the shoulder of the Prime Minister and the government. It’s now up to see in the new year, whether they’ll follow through with support for this great initiative by David Shoebridge and the Greens’ team.
Just a personal note. I was arrested three weeks ago in the highlands, northeast highlands at Snow Hill, presumably under the new laws but we don’t know. And I’ve yet to receive a summons. So there’s scratching of heads going on there about the implementation of this law. As David said, the government’s got plenty of laws to prevent criminal behaviour It doesn’t need to be using oppressive laws like this to stop people defending their forests, their wildlife, and the lifestyle of future generations. Thank you.
Nick McKim
Thanks, Bob. And before I introduce activists, I just want to be clear. Overnight, there was a landmark international agreement signed where governments signed on to actually protect nature and protect biodiversity. You cannot do that while you’re still trashing our forests. And you can’t do it while you’re still arresting people who are out there defending our forests and trying to keep the fossil fuels in the ground.
So what we need the government to show here is some consistency, having signed off to a landmark international agreement, they’ve now got to follow through and part of that following through is to make sure that these state and territory anti-protest laws that are in place are over-ridden by the commonwealth. On that, if there’s anyone who’s interested, Professor George Williams is available to speak to the media from the University of New South Wales. And he’s one of the people who’s given us the legal advice, that constitutionally we are on rock solid ground. I’m now going to pass over to some people who are actually have done the hard yards and have been on the front line. And I’ll start, firstly with Scott John from the Bob Brown Foundation.
Scott Jordan
Thank you. Peaceful protest is an incredibly important part of a democracy. It’s not enough, you go to the ballot box and you vote once every three or four years. It’s important to be able to stand up when you think something’s wrong, to be able to have that voice. And to be able to make the world’s attention be drawn to an issue that you feel passionate about. That’s true democracy. It’s not just about the ability to cast the vote, it’s about the ability to take part in a process. And, and that’s what’s under threat here.
We’re seeing laws here in Tasmania that make it a greater penalty for standing in front of a bulldozer in a public forest than it would be to conduct a home invasion. That’s wrong. They’re not the same thing. Peaceful protest has yielded huge benefits for civil society, for the environment, for the future of our planet, and it will continue to. We at Bob Brown Foundation have been committed to non violent direct action, peaceful protest, and the proof’s in the pudding. We’ve been out in those forests and in the last six years, we’ve seen two and a half thousand hectares that would have been logged of an ancient rainforest in the Tarkine that still stands. And we’ve seen Chinese miner MMG who have plans to – Chinese government owned miner MMG, I should say – who have plans to dump 25 million tons of toxic acid-producing waste into the rain forests in takayna / Tarkine, home to masked owl, wedge-tailed eagle, Tasmanian devil. And now, two years behind schedule because a thousand people have taken into the ground on those blockades and stood in the way and said ‘this will not happen, we are going to stand up and have our voice on this’.
The company was acting illegally. The court has found that in two occasions now. 86 of those protesters have faced caught, subject to penalties under these new laws with much greater penalties, while the company’s never been prosecuted. These laws are not there to protect the community. These laws are to protect the industry. They are to protect the miners, the loggers and those that want to destroy the planet. And those people that are going to stand up and defend it should be celebrated, not incarcerated.
Kristy Alger
Hello, I’m Kristy Alger, I’m with Animal Liberation Tasmania. I’ve also done some work with the Bob Brown Foundation. Back in 2016-2017, my organisation were involved in exposing egregious animal cruelty in a number of slaughterhouses here in Tasmania. Following on from there, we have engaged in street outreach, we have engaged in vigils outside slaughterhouses. There have even been occasions of actual protest where Animal Liberationists walked into slaughterhouses to shut down and draw awareness to what was going on in there.
Since then, I’ve also been arrested four times with the Bob Brown Foundation. Every single time I have been arrested, it has been while sitting passively, static, in a forest. And for that, in my time, as an activist, I have been assaulted. I’ve been doxxed, I’ve received death threats, and I’ve ever had politicians label me a terrorist. Now under these laws, I would go to prison for an extended period of time. In fact, I was arrested with Bob, just a few weeks ago in Snow Hills defending swift parrot habitat, they want to lock me up for months.
I’m also a mother of three who is trying to defend my children’s future. And for that, I would receive the penalty of being a criminal. So what I would really, really want people to understand is these laws are not about protecting you, the general public, they’re about protecting shareholder profits, corporate profits, extractivist industries. Whether it’s mining, logging, gas companies, animal agriculture, they want to prevent us from telling you the stories that you deserve to know about. And that’s why I fully support David Shoebridge in what is planned for next year. Thank you,
Nick McKim
And finally, before we go to Lisa, can I introduce Dr Scott Bell from Extinction Rebellion.
Scott Bell
Well, now, look, I’m frightened. One of my jobs is climate activism with Extinction Rebellion. And in the new year, I’ve got my 10th, 11th and 12th court appearances, and I’m afraid of the consequences, consequences that these new laws bring in. If I go to jail for seven years, I’ll be 79, I could die there. But the thing I’m more afraid of is the science, the science of the climate emergency, the science, which tells us that we’re in for tough times. The science which we’re not taking enough notice of, but the science which is irrefutable, and the science which is showing us that we need to take much more action. So my job as a climate activist will continue. And we’ll have to go on from here on. Thank you.
Dr Lisa Searle
It’s such a privilege to be here and to be able to speak to you today. So I’m currently about 30 metres up a myrtle tree in the takayna rainforest. And I’m actually on the proposed tailings dam site where MMG, Chinese state-owned mining company MMG wants to come and build a tailings dam facility. What’s kind of interesting is that right next to the camera that I’m looking at the screen, I can see the existing MMG tailings dam facility right through there. And then if I look behind me over this way, I can see what is one of the most incredibly ancient and beautiful rainforests that I’ve ever seen in my life. And to see this juxtaposition and to see exactly what MMG wants to turn this place into, it’s just heartbreaking. And I will continue to be here defending this place as well as a whole bunch of other activists, and sitting out here and occupying this space.
We’ve been occupying this space now for a couple of years, and MMG are not going to come in and destroy this place. And, yeah, I would like to mirror the words that so many people have said very eloquently today that the right to protest is a really important part of this democracy. And that peaceful protest works. There are so many wild places all around the world, and in Tasmania, especially, that are only still here because of the actions of peaceful protesters. One of the things that the governments are trying to do in introducing these new anti protest legislation, whether it’s the anti lock on laws that they brought in, in Queensland, or this new amendment that they bought into the police Offences Act here in Tasmania, what they’re trying to do, is to take us out, and people like myself, who organise these protests, they want me out of here, they want me in jail, they don’t want me out here in the forests, where I can continue to protect these forests and inspire other people to protect these forests. And that would be such a tragedy to lose so many activists and to have so many activists spending time in jail, and not being effective out here on the front lines anymore. I’m so stoked. I’m so happy that we are pushing this right to protest bill, I was so touched and so excited when I heard that Nick and David were taking these steps, and had started doing this research to look into this legislation. And I’m really, really hopeful. And I’m really excited to see where this is going to lead us.
Journalist – Elliott
My question was, have you had any discussions with members of the federal Labor government about this?
David Shoebridge
We’ve just kicked off the campaign this week. We intend to give notice of the bill in the first week when parliament returns in the new year and introduce the bill in the first half of 2023. As we develop the bill, we will be talking with stakeholders, we’ll be talking with constitutional legal experts. We’ll be talking with environmental and climate campaigners. We’ll be talking with First Nations activists, and we’ll be talking with other political parties in the parliament. We say this is a chance for politicians to come together. We also see it as a chance for those politicians in the federal parliament, who have been condemning regimes like Iran and Russia and others for cracking down on peaceful protest, to be true to their word. If they don’t think it’s the right thing to do in other countries, they should step up and prohibit it in our own country.
Journalist – Ellen Coulter
The federal Environment Minister hasn’t exactly come out swinging on you know the sorts of sentences that have been given to people like Violet Coco, do you expect that you will be able to get any support?
David Shoebridge
One of the good things about having this debate in the federal parliament is the federal parliament is a little bit more distant from the extractive industries. They’re not issuing the licenses to the loggers. They don’t own the forestry corporations. They’re not issuing the planning approvals for coal mining companies. So we can hope for a more principle-based approach. And it’s a genuine invitation to work with the Albanese government, to work with other political parties in that parliament, to get a win win: a win for the future, but also a win for our democracy.
Journalist – unidentified
When you expect to have a draft bill?
David Shoebridge
We hope to have a draft bill out for consultation by the end of February. But we want to be true to the consultation, we want to make sure that those stakeholders who we prize in civil society have a chance to feed into the drafting of this bill. Because whilst it’s very clear the constitutional pathway, there are some tough policy decisions to be made. And we see it as hopefully a collaborative project.
Journalist – unidentified
Are there other examples where the External Affairs powers have been used? So the Commonwealth legislation overrides state law?
David Shoebridge
Well, one of the reasons we’re here in Tasmania is because this is where the External Affairs power got its first outing in the legislation and the moves to save the Franklin. It was the External Affairs power that was used by the federal government. We’re very confident of the legal advice we’ve got from two constitutional lawyers – Patrick Kaiser and George Williams – very confident that the power is there in the federal parliament. Our job over the next few coming months is to make sure the political will is there to match.
Journalist – Elliott
And you mentioned that protest protest is under attack by other state and territory governments. But would you say the Tasmanian government’s attack is particularly bad?
David Shoebridge
Well, I’ll kick that off, and then I’ll throw to Cassy. What we’ve seen in Tasmania over the last eight years is some concerted efforts to put in jail forest activists like Lisa, like Bob and like others, a very concerted approach to intimidate protesters. But unfortunately, the blueprint that was established here in Tasmania has now caught on around the rest of the country. We’re seeing similar laws in Queensland, perhaps in some ways even more brutal laws in New South Wales. But we’re here because it was this jurisdiction that’s had those first fights that’s taken on. Bob did in the in the High Court, taken on some of the worst excesses, it’s a good place to launch a right to protest, it’s a good place to talk about it.
Cassy O’Connor
We have anti-protest laws on this island where you can do more time in jail, face a heavier penalty, then you can for home invasion, or loitering near children. And what we know is that there were sequential attempts by the Tasmanian Liberal government to enact the most draconian anti-protest laws in the country. We know that the High Court basically found the first crack at it unconstitutional. And now the Liberals have come back in with a new piece of legislation that basically is aggravated trespass laws, and they’re doing this because we have such a proud history here of successful peaceful protest, whether it’s against industrial mining, logging, fish farming, you name it. And the issue here is that you’ve got a corporatist Liberal government that would rather prioritise the well being of their donors than children striking for a safe climate. It’s shameful.
Journalist – Elliott
Will you protest against a Hobart stadium?
Cassy O’Connor
I think, I think there will be thousands of people all over this island who will protest against that stadium. I doubt that it will get off the ground such is the intensity of the feeling on this island about a what a wasteful folly. It is. And I understand that the Liberals have put forward a business case for the stadium. There is no business case for this stadium. What the government needs to be spending $400 million on, if it’s got that money to spend, is making sure we’ve got the health system Tasmanians deserve making sure Tasmanians who need an affordable home can have one. I haven’t met more than a handful of people who support this stadium. It is Jeremy Rockliff’s folly and if he doesn’t reverse course it will be his undoing at the next state election.
Journalist – unidentified
The state government has signed an MOU with the Clifford Crane Foundation today for a new research facility at the Launceston General Hospital. Is it a good idea?
Cassy O’Connor
While it’s excellent, but I did notice in the announcement, there was no reference to the most one of the most significant health threats this island and its people are facing and that is a let-it-rip approach to COVID, which has now infected more than half of this islands people, left 10s of 1000s of Tasmanians with long COVID, and there are more than 200 Tasmanian families and friendship circles, who are grieving the loss of someone to COVID. So we would love to see this new research facility, our focus on how to protect Tasmanians, from what is a debilitating, disabling and potentially lethal virus that our political leaders have decided to infect everyone with. There are so few protections in our community today for people in aged care where we know it’s running rampant, for children in schools where the government has sent unvaxxed, unmasked children into unsafe classrooms. So let’s have public funding invested in research that deals with the consequences of this virus and protecting Tasmanians from it.
Journalist – unidentified
They also say their public private partnership is helping bring down the elective surgery wait lists. Is paying private surgeons a good use of money.
Cassy O’Connor
Well, sometimes when you haven’t properly invested in your public health system, and you’re a Liberal government, you will go to the private sector in order to take the pressure off the hospital system and make sure that people can have their elective surgeries. But let’s be really honest about what’s happening here. We’ve got a government that has led COVID rip. We’ve got people whose immune systems have been impacted by that. We’ve got children now in hospital with COVID and a whole range of viruses because they are more vulnerable because they are exposed to COVID. So of course, the Liberals will be looking at public private partnerships because they’ve under-invested over many years in our public health system.
Journalist – unidentified
See you’re saying money should be more going into COVID and COVID research rather than paying private surgeons?
Cassy O’Connor
What we’d be saying and I think most Tasmanians would say this is instead of putting $400 million of our money, public money, into a stadium no one wants, invest it in our public health system, invest it in more public housing invested in the people of Tasmania. They deserve it.
