Sri’s gotta go: Ratepayers deserve better than anarchy

Greens councillor Jonathan Sri’s persistent support for civil disobedience proves he is unfit for his taxpayer-funded position and should step down, writes Kylie Lang.

If Brisbane city councillor Jonathan Sri truly cared about his constituents, he’d do them all a favour and resign.

When the concerns of 120 foreigners detained in a three-star hotel are of greater priority than the rights of all residents in his Gabba council ward, it’s proof he’s completely lost the plot.

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While the latest example of “mass civil disobedience”, to use the organisers’ words, was postponed for a week at the 11th hour last night, that doesn’t let Cr Sri off the hook.

Jonathan Sri at an asylum seeker protest on Main Street, Kangaroo Point, in June 21. Picture: Richard Walker.

The rogue Greens politician has organised and supported rallies since June in the name of freedom for asylum seekers, but what about the freedom of Queenslanders?

Should taxpayers – who pay Cr Sri’s wages – be exposed any more than they have to COVID-19 as social distancing rules are flouted by thousands?

Should business owners have their livelihoods eroded as customers avoid the area or are unable to reach it?

And should residents be unable to leave their homes because imbeciles in need of a haircut and a juicy steak are blocking their driveways?

No, is the answer to all.

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Yet, in my view, Cr Sri and his comrades don’t care about the majority. They’ve set out to cause maximum disruption to all. And they’re proud of it.

Well, if any of them had half a brain they’d have realised by now their defiant protests have achieved zero for the cause.

Decisions about asylum seekers are made in Canberra, not in Kangaroo Point.

All they’ve done is confirm they are serial pests who must be held accountable for the mayhem and stress caused.

I nearly laughed out loud when Amelia Miletic, who owns One Fish Two Fish restaurant with her chef husband Daniel, told me Cr Sri had suggested she hit up Brisbane City Council for the $25,000 in lost trade she’s suffered since protesters moved into the area this year.

Daniel and Amelia Miletic’s One Fish Two Fish seafood restaurant is opposite the Kangaroo Point hotel where asylum seekers are being detained, and the couple say protests have cost them up to $25,000 in lost business. Picture: Adam Head

This would be the same local government to which Cr Sri was elected in 2016, so all I can assume is he’s happy to cough up the money himself. There’s accountability for you.

Cr Sri has a history of behaviour unfitting his paid position. Last year he was fined $1300 for inappropriate conduct after posing as a concerned resident in a hoax voicemail left for a state MP.

In 2018 he was investigated for allegedly harassing and stalking a real estate agent, but the council opted not to pursue misconduct charges.

For too long the Greens and others have been allowed to get away with anarchy, the Labor government desperate to keep them on side.

Police officers who were willing to fine people $1344 for calmly picnicking with their families in South Bank have so far failed to give the same treatment to angry protesters gathering in their thousands.

The hypocrisy of allowing rallies – including for the Black Lives Matter movement – to go ahead in this current climate has not been lost on voters.

Courier-Mail readers are rightly appalled at the double standards, and the Palaszczuk Government claiming to seek legal advice to stop the latest debacle – which threatens to block the Story Bridge – doesn’t excuse past inaction.

Every single one of those protests that occurred after the government effectively closed Queensland should have been forcibly shut down.

Anyone persisting with illegal activity must be arrested and fined.

Jonathan Sri at a protest outside the Kangaroo Point hotel in June. Picture: Richard Walker

I’m not saying the causes fuelling the activism are unworthy, but the execution is flawed – and dangerous, particularly to public health, which most Queenslanders have been fighting to protect.

It is also damaging to an economy already in pain, and to the mental wellbeing of those feeling it most, including small business owners smashed by a pandemic but required to feed their families.

The Premier said on Thursday a second wave of coronavirus would cost the economy more than $4.8bn and “Queenslanders don’t want to go backwards”.

She’s right on that front.

Freedom of speech will always be important in a democracy, but there are ways to express it that don’t involve putting lives and recovery at risk. With free speech also comes a responsibility to not destroy the freedoms of others.

Protesters need to be made to realise this, including Jonathan Sri, who has been elected to a position of power and must act appropriately, or stand the hell down.