Anti-protest laws voted down in upper house

Rob Inglis | Advocate Newspaper | March 25, 2021  

The state government’s anti-protest bill has been defeated in the upper house.  

The state government’s proposed anti-protest laws have failed to garner support in the Legislative Council, with Labor and progressive independent MLCs voting against them.

It comes after an earlier version of the legislation – a key election commitment of the Liberal government – was ruled invalid in a High Court challenge.

On Thursday, a revamped iteration of the laws, known as the Workplaces (Protection from Protesters) Amendment Bill, was defeated, with six members voting in favour of it, and eight against it.

Labor has accused the government of politicising the issue ahead of the upper house elections on May 1, as well as a strongly rumoured early state election. Labor resources spokesman Shane Broad said on Wednesday that the Opposition was willing to sit down with the government to draft laws that would “actually protect workers”.

“The only people who win as a result of the Liberals’ political games are the Greens and the Bob Brown Foundation,” Dr Broad said.

Independent Nelson MLC Meg Webb described the government’s decision to bring forward the legislation in the Legislative Council nearly 18 months after it passed the lower house as “a rank exercise in political theatre”.

“Protest is a normal and healthy part of a liberal democracy – in fact, it’s essential,” she said.

“Without protest action occurring in times past, I would not be standing here today in this place. Literally.

“I am not endorsing … protest action that’s violent or threatening. I am merely highlighting that protest doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

“Evidence tells us that passing this bill will have an ultimately negative effect in exacerbating extreme protest action.”

The proposed laws would have imposed hefty fines and potential prison terms on protesters found to have impeded, obstructed or damaged Tasmanian businesses.

They would have introduced offences around trespassing on business premises, obstructing public thoroughfares and threatening to impede business activity.

Independent Windermere MLC Ivan Dean, who supported the bill, said workers should “have fair protection to go about their legal business”.

“Now’s the time to stand up,” he said.

“If these [protest] actions are not stopped, we will see serious injuries and we will see death.”

While the bill has attracted the support of peak industry bodies including, but not limited to, the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Tasmanian Forest Products Association and the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association, it’s drawn ire from other quarters.

The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, Civil Liberties Australia, the Human Rights Law Centre and the Bob Brown Foundation are among a number of prominent organisations that have publicly expressed their opposition to the bill.

In a statement, Primary Industries Minister Guy Barnett said Labor should be “ashamed of themselves” for opposing the legislation.

“This is the ultimate act of betrayal and a kick in the guts to the hard-working Tasmanians who are being threatened and harassed by radical protesters for simply going to work,” he said.

Mr Barnett said the laws weren’t “anti-protest” but, rather, “anti-illegal invasions, threats and harassment”.

Bob Brown Foundation campaign manager Jenny Weber commended the upper house for stopping the government’s “effort to rob Tasmanians of their right to protest against unpopular policies”.

“Our foundation will continue to carry out the long-held democratic right to protest for protection of Tasmania’s environment,” she said.

“We stand by our impeccable record that our foundation and forest protesters in Tasmania have never damaged property nor threatened violence.”

Watch or read Meg’s speech about the Workplace Protest Bill