Tasmania’s anti-protest bill must be scrapped as MLCs seek amendments
Leading Tasmanian and national civil society organisations are calling on members of the Legislative Council to vote against the Rockliff government’s dangerous new anti-protest law.
The bill will return to committee in the Legislative Council for debate today after a number of MLCs raised concerns with the legislation, and proposed amendments including:
Making intent a requirement for aggravated offences
Limiting another offence to impeding an employee’s access to their workplace instead of causing a disruption
Reducing penalties for a range of offences under the legislation
The updated bill will be voted on by the upper-house chamber, and if it passes, it will return to the House of Assembly for a further, final vote, as early as this week.
The organisations have slammed the proposed law as unnecessary, disproportionate and anti-democratic.
The Police Offences Amendment (Workplace Protection) Bill 2022 significantly increases penalties and creates new offences for a broad range of non-violent protest-related activity.
Under the current proposed law, a community member marching down a road toward Parliament House could be jailed for three months. A worker refusing to leave their workplace in demand of proper pay could be fined over $8,000.
Kieran Pender, Senior Lawyer, Human Rights Law Centre said:
“This bill is unnecessary and undemocratic and it must not become law. Amendments may reduce the damage, but this will remain a bad law. The right to protest is a cornerstone of a robust civil society that holds government to account. However, this bill – in its current form or as amended – will have a chilling effect on the right to protest in Tasmania.”
Rodney Croome, President, Equality Tasmania said:
"We were told the bill was about forest protests, but it will also curb urban protests, including women's protests for reproductive rights and LGBTIQA+ protests against discrimination. Protest has made Tasmania a fairer, more equal and more inclusive place.”
Jo Flanagan, CEO, Women’s Health Tasmania said:
“If our members of parliament want Tasmania to continue to be a place where everyone can have their say, they should oppose this onerous proposal.”
Bob Brown, Chair, Bob Brown Foundation said:
“Amendments or not, this bill will lead to many more making a stand, just as happened with the Franklin River blockade after the Gray government brought in tough new laws and penalties aimed at deterring people from defending Tasmania’s wild and scenic environment.”
Rachel Hay, Anne Kantor Fellow at the Australia Institute Tasmania said:
“This anti-protest bill is a draconian attack by the Tasmanian Government on our right to peaceful protest. It imposes disproportionate penalties on a broad range of peaceful protest activities.
“This bill could see a person holding a placard on Parliament Lawns receive a fine of over $1,000. In fact, protestors could receive the same penalty as a person trespassing with a gun – a fine of over $8,000 or one and half years in prison. The Parliament must reject this bill and protect our right to peaceful protest.”
Turan Basaran, Organiser, Grassroots Action Network Tasmania said:
“Democracy is under siege on a global scale. Our communities represent the last front to these attacks. While this bill seeks to divide us, silence us, and punish us for seeking justice, we want its proponents to know that we are united in unprecedented ways. We support opposing this bill outright - no to amendments, no to the bill.”
Media contact:
Ray Yoshida, Australian Democracy Network, ray.yoshida@australiandemocracy.org.au, 0404 614 469
Michelle Bennett, Human Rights Law Centre, michelle.bennett@hrlc.org.au, 0419 100 519
