ALP Left faction condemns State Government protest crackdown

Tbe Palaszczuk Government’s new crackdown on climate change warriors has been condemned at Labor’s state conference, with a motion suggesting it would impact on the party’s ‘proud history dissent against injustice’.

THE Left Faction has condemned the Palaszczuk Government’s new crackdown on climate change warriors, insisting it could impact Labor’s proud history of protesting.

A motion, calling for the Government to “respect our (Labor) own history of dissent against injustice and reflect this in all laws they propose to encourage — not discourage freedom of speech and assembly”, was carried at today’s Labor state conference in Brisbane.

Speaking in support of the motion, one woman congratulated the Left’s “foresight and courage” for bringing the motion forward.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk with Queensland party president John Battams at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. Picture: Liam Kidston

“One of the things that I wanted to remind people of was that every minister in the Palaszczuk Government … including the Premier has thanked our comrades in the trade union movement for the work that they have done in this state and nationally,” she said.

“We need to think carefully about what we do with this legislation.

“We need to think about the implications that it will have for ourselves as union members.”

Condemning the 70 arrests in Brisbane’s CBD following a recent climate change protest, another woman said Labor didn’t want to waste years of fighting for the right to demonstrate on the streets of Queensland.

The Courier-Mail yesterday revealed tensions were expected to boil over at the conference after the proposed laws were announced earlier this week.

The crackdown, which wants to make “dangerous devices” used by some protesters illegal, has been slammed as returning Queensland to a “police state”.

In parliament this week, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said police needed new laws after she learnt some activists were putting their arms in steel cylinders and drums filled with concrete that had glass fragments and even butane gas containers inside.

“You can tell yourself your cause is worth gluing yourself to a road but you’ll never explain to a grieving family why your politics are worth stopping an ambulance from reaching a hospital,” she said.