Protesters vow to block Brisbane traffic twice a day for 6 months

Extinction Rebellion-style protests, backed by a renegade Brisbane City councillor, could erupt twice daily for six months, throwing CBD commutes into chaos, if a group of asylum seekers are moved from an inner-city hotel.

RENEGADE councillor Jonathan Sri is among 400 protesters threatening to block peak-hour traffic if asylum seekers being kept in a Kangaroo Point hotel are moved to Christmas Island.

A group of men have been kept in the Kangaroo Point Central Hotel, Main Road, for the past year, with protests erupting at the complex since April.

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The 400-strong pledge for rolling peak-hour traffic blocks, similar to those employed by Extinction Rebellion last year, is planned to disrupt traffic twice a day for six months, organisers say.

“We wouldn’t have to protest like this at all if the government just released these men into the community. These people have suffered enough already,” protest spokeswoman Dane de Leon said.

Greens Councillor Jonathan Sri talks to protesters who have gathered to support asylum seekers detained at the Kangaroo Point Central Hotel in Brisbane. Picture: AAP Image/Glenn Hunt

Cr Sri confirmed to The Courier-Mail that he was among the 400 people who signed the pledge.

“If it was safe for them to return home, the government would have deported them years ago, so the crucial question now is whether we want to grant them asylum and release them, or keep them locked up forever.”

A person signing the pledge to disrupt traffic across the CBD if a group of male asylum seekers are moved to other detention facilities. Picture: Refugee Solidarity Brisbane/Meanjin

The pledge in part reads that: “I am willing to safely risk arrest to cause as much traffic disruption as possible if the government transfers detainees to higher-security facilities instead of releasing them into the community.”