‘Draconian and undemocratic’: why criminalising climate protesters in Australia doesn’t actually work

Thu, 21 Jul 2022 06:54:45 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/draconian-and-undemocratic-why-criminalising-climate-protesters-in-australia-doesnt-actually-work-185961>

"A man who drove through a climate protest blocking the Harbour Tunnel this
week has copped a A$469 fine, while multiple members of the activist group were
arrested. The protest was among a series of peak hour rallies in Sydney by
Blockade Australia, in an effort to stop “the cogs in the machine that is
destroying life on earth”.

Disruptive protests like these make an impact. They form the iconic images of
social movements that have delivered many of the rights and freedoms we enjoy
today.

They attract extensive media coverage that propel issues onto the national
agenda. And, despite media coverage to the contrary, research suggests they
don’t reduce public support for climate action.

But disruptive protest also consistently generates one negative response:
attempts to criminalise it.

Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales have all recently proposed or introduced
anti-protest bills targeting environmental and climate activists. This wave of
anti-protest legislation has been described as draconian and undemocratic.

Let’s take a look at how these laws suppress environmental protesters – and
whether criminalisation actually works."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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