MLCs act on advice to vote down proposed anti-protest laws

Anti-protest laws which have been labelled ‘draconian’ have failed to pass through the Upper House again, despite strong campaigning by the Liberal governemnt. LATEST >>

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THE Liberal government’s bid to pass tougher penalties against protesters who disrupt workplaces has been stymied by the Legislative Council.

Rejected once by the High Court and condemned by civil rights activists, the Bill has been the subject of protest in recent days.

The Legislative Council rejected the Bill 8-6 just before lunch on Thursday.

Had the laws passed, demonstrators would have faced mandatory fines and prison terms if their actions disrupted workplaces.

Minister for Resources Guy Barnett said Labor had “betrayed Tasmanian workers” for opposing the Bill.

“Labor should be ashamed of themselves for siding with the Bob Brown Foundation and the anti-everything Greens and turning their back on Tasmanian workers, their families and businesses by voting against our government’s workplace protection laws in the Upper House,” he said.

“This is the ultimate act of betrayal.”

Labor’s resources spokesman Shane Broad said his party backed anti-protest laws, but the legislation was too wide-ranging.

Shane Broad. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

“Under the legislation that was defeated today, every Tasmanian … could be fined or even jailed,” he said.

“The right to protest is fundamental but what we need to target specifically are protest groups like the Bob Brown Foundation who continue to hinder the legitimate activities of the Tasmanian timber and mining industries.”

Greens leader Cassy O’Connor was delighted.

“It’s an affirmation by Tasmania’s upper house that Tasmanians have the right to peaceful protest, and it’s a right that’s enshrined in our Constitution,’’ she said.

Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesman Fabiano Cangelosi welcomed the outcome.

Campaign to stop protest laws in Upper House

Helen Kempton

March 22, 2021

SIX Tasmanian organisations have banded together to jointly condemn the Tasmanian Government’s controversial anti-protest laws and ask members of the Legislative Council to vote them down.

The government’s legislation will be debated in the Legislative Council on March 24.

Labor says it will not support the laws but wants to work with the government to draw up an alternative Bill.

“We will not support laws that make it a crime to protest on any footpath or road in Tasmania. Nor do we want to give the Bob Brown Foundation a fundraising gravy train to take to the High Court,” Labor MP Shane Broad said.

“We have written to Primary Industries Minister Guy Barnett offering to come together to draft laws which will work.”

The High Court has already rejected the government’s original anti-protest legislation.

It has now been amended but Dr Broad said it was still about “fighting” protesters not “fixing” timber and mining industry concerns.

Labor wants to see “timber harvest safety zones” established and for an aggravated trespass charge to be levelled at protesters that disrupt workplaces.

Labor’s Shane Broad said the current laws went too far.

Shane Broad. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

“There are a bunch of protest that I have taken part in that would be illegal under this Bill,” he said.

“Like walking down the main street of Smithton protesting about the closure of the vegetable plant.

“Nurses gathered outside hospital asking for more staff and better conditions would also be a criminal offence.”

The State Government says Labor’s claims nurses and factory workers could be fined or even jailed under its proposed anti protest laws are false.

“Labor is shamelessly trying to spread false information about the Workplace Protection Bill in a desperate bid to cover their lack of support for Tasmanian workers,” Primary Industries Minister Guy Barnett said.

Dr Broad has warned the government it will not support the Bill which heads to the Upper House on Wednesday.

Dr Broad said it would make it a criminal offence to protest at a workplace.

“Section 5 (2) of the Act, which is not amended by the Bill, specifically excludes hospitals from the definition of business premises to which it applies,” Mr Barnett said.

“Therefore, nurses and medical staff protesting at hospitals are exempt from this Bill.

“The Act also provides certain exemptions for protected or lawful industrial action.”

Liberal Minister Guy Barnett arrives at Question Time in State Parliament. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Mr Barnett said Labor’s attack on the proposed legislation was “nothing more than a poorly-disguised attempt to hide the fact that it is the only Labor Party in the country that seems to oppose these laws.”

He said Tasmanian businesses and workers deserve the right to work free from threats and invasions from radical extremists.

The six organisations – Civil Liberties Australia, Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, Amnesty International Australia, Unions Tasmania, Human Rights Law Centre and the Tasmanian Council for Social Service – wrote a joint letter to Legislative Councillors asking they vote against the proposed laws because they are “undemocratic, illiberal, unjust, dangerous and technically flawed.”

It said the proposed laws shielded business from public criticism and elevated economic interests of organisations over the civil liberties of individuals.

The government’s proposed anti-protest laws, said to be the toughest in the nation, were passed by the House of Assemble in 2019.

The changes would add new offences relating to trespassing on business premises as well as an offence relating to obstructing public thoroughfares to workplaces.

Mr Barnett has claimed the legislation “gets the balance right” and the changes have the backing of the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“People should be able to earn a living without trespassers interfering with their work, threats being made in an effort to shut down their business,” he said.

Just last week Bob Brown Foundation protesters caused work to stop at Venture Minerals’ Riley iron ore project.