Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s crackdown on protesters upsets her comrades

Annastacia Palaszczuk faces a backlash from grassroots Labor members and unions after fast-tracking a protest crackdown.

Activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement stage a mock funeral at a protest in Brisbane on Thursday. Picture: AAP

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk faces a backlash from grassroots Labor members and unions after fast-tracking a legal crackdown on protesters.

Extinction Rebellion climate change activists again disrupted traffic in central Brisbane on Thursday, with serial protester Eric Serge Herbert locking himself onto a car and another group fastening themselves to a pink boat, blocking city streets.

Mr Herbert was arrested for the 11th time and was expected to spend the night in Brisbane’s police watchhouse, while the four boat protesters were granted bail after being charged with breaching bail conditions and obstructing pedestrians.

In Melbourne, 41 people were arrested after similar protests: 22 were given penalty notices for failing to abide by a police traffic direction, while 19 were charged with intentionally obstructing an emergency services worker.

Ms Palaszczuk announced this week she would accelerate the introduction of new laws to more harshly punish protesters who use “lock on” devices, such as pipes or 44-gallon drums full of concrete, to fix their bodies to roads and mining infrastructure.

The move means the legislation will be passed this month, instead of early next year, and drastically shortens the parliamentary committee process that scrutinises the legislation in the state’s single-house parliament.

Queensland Council of Unions acting general secretary and Labor member Michael Clifford — who will give evidence to the committee on Friday — told The Australian the laws could stop peaceful protests. Mr Clifford said that, if applied overzealously, the new police search powers meant tradies carrying pipes in utes could be targeted on suspicion of transporting the lock-on devices.

“One of the reasons why it would generate a lot of heat in the Labor Party, there’s a history of protests in this party … we should be very careful when we’re talking about laws like this, we’re concerned about any laws that impinge peaceful protest,” he said.

“It’s clearly a concern for unions (protesting) and that affiliates of ours have been raising, it’s the thin end of the wedge, once you open the door to these things, they can get worse.”

It comes as inner-Brisbane ALP branches on social media appeared to express their discontent with the anti-protest laws.

Annerley Labor’s Facebook page last month published the text of a resolution passed by the branch, describing as “chilling” recent mass arrests of protesters. The branch’s resolution also likens the extra police search powers included in the bill as “eerily reminiscent of the powers given to police during the (former Nationals premier Joh) Bjelke-Petersen era”.

Ms Palaszczuk, who this week said she protested as a university student, has denied the laws would impinge on the rights of protesters to peacefully assemble, and were necessary to protect police who needed to cut activists out of the lock-on devices.