The editor: Premier, Speaker over the top in reaction to protest

Kneejerk reactions from the Premier and Speaker to a harmless protest in parliament appear to be incongruous for two people who owe their livelihoods to the Labor movement, writes the editor.

Greens state MP Amy MacMahon is spot on – you have to seriously wonder about Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s commitment to the Labor Party’s history and values if her kneejerk reaction to protesters is to say: “People have the right to protest silently in public.”

Silently! Try telling that to the generations of brave Labor heroes who have won for Australians so many of the rights we now all take for granted – not by protesting silently, but by doing so loudly.

The Premier’s candid revelation of the type of protests she thinks should be allowed in modern-day Queensland came last Wednesday after a group of 10 mostly elderly Extinction Rebellion protesters briefly disrupted proceedings in state parliament by chanting “stop coal, stop gas” and unfurling banners over the railing of the public gallery that sits above the chamber.

Queensland Greens MP Amy MacMahon. Picture: NCA NewsWire/John Gass

The protest was livestreamed on Facebook – in contravention of the rules of broadcast of the chamber – before security quickly bundled the group out of the building.

With the gallery cleared, the Premier took to her feet and said: “Our democracy should be able to function without any fear for members’ security.

“People have the right to protest silently in public, and I endorse that, but there are rules in this chamber. I will leave that for you to reflect on, Mr Speaker.”

The next day in question time, Ms MacMahon asked the Premier to explain why she had used the word “silently” in relation to protests.

She asked: “Is the Premier aware of the history of the union movement, whereby loud and disruptive protest has been crucial and effective?”

The Premier replied by saying parliament “is a workplace” – and that “outside here, we have normal protests that happen and ... they can be loud and people can speak, but ... what happened yesterday is disrespecting this parliament”.

Again, we do not disagree.

It is illegal to “disturb the assembly” or to be “disorderly while parliament is sitting”.

Both are crimes, technically punishable by up to three years in prison.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: NewsWire/Sarah Marshall

The protesters had also lied to security – hiding their banners inside their clothing.

And they had bypassed metal detectors by using a wheelchair to smuggle in the device used to livestream their action.

They went over the top. Sending a clear message that this protest was the wrong thing to do is therefore appropriate.

But the response should be proportionate.

Nobody was hurt. There was no property damaged.

The disruption lasted for a total of three minutes.

Asking the police to charge them with a criminal offence would surely be too harsh a reaction from Labor Speaker Curtis Pitt.

Labor Speaker Curtis Pitt. Picture: Brendan Radke

But it certainly seems Mr Pitt is in no mood to let them off with a slap on the wrist.

He told parliament: “The protest that occurred in the assembly yesterday was not a lawful or peaceful protest. It ... attempted to disrupt our primary democratic institution.

“The protesters attempted to shout down democracy by being the loudest voice in the chamber.”

These breathless reactions from both Mr Pitt and the Premier to a brief and harmless protest seem seriously incongruous for two people who literally owe their livelihoods to the Labor movement.

And that fact leaves you wondering what the generation of former state Labor MPs who cut their political teeth loudly, bravely and – yes – illegally protesting the excesses of the Bjelke-Petersen government are thinking as they watch on from retirement.