Right to protest under attack in WA

The Western Australian Liberal government is introducing draconian new anti-democratic laws.

The Criminal Code Amendment (Prevention of Lawful Activity) Bill 2015 is a reprehensible document that savages the right to free assembly. Provisions of the bill include penalties of up to two years’ imprisonment or a $24,000 fine for the ill-defined crime of “physical prevention of lawful activity” during a protest. The bill also renders illegal the possession of a “thing” which might be used for that purpose.

Yes, “things” are to be prohibited.

The shape of smoke is clearer than this bill, which gives police almost free rein to interpret as illegal anything from marches to sit-ins to industrial actions such as picket lines. Further, under the proposed laws, the accused have to prove their innocence, rather than have it assumed until proven otherwise.

An alliance of community groups and individuals, known as Protect Peaceful Protest, has formed to oppose the bill. Sixty-six organisations have signed a joint statement supporting the budding campaign. Protect Peaceful Protest’s Simone van Hattem spoke to Red Flag, explaining that activists opposed to the drilling of coal seam gas were the most immediate target of the laws. “The government is definitely worried about protests around fracking by farmers and environmentalists”, she said.

State government representatives have frequently pointed to devices used by activists to lock themselves onto heavy machinery as their prime example of a “thing” used for “physical prevention”.

Lock-on tactics have been common in a number of recent environmental campaigns. These include the successful protests against the big mining interests that wanted to engage in fracking at the Kimberley’s James Price Point.

Repressive legislation is bound to be used not just against environmental campaigners, however, but also against unions and other activist groups. Mining and big business are given licence to do whatever they like in WA, whether that’s trashing workers’ rights, driving Aboriginal people from their communities or devastating the environment. But authorities are shamelessly hostile toward the freedom to resist.

Yet, resistance is our greatest strength. In Victoria, anti-protest laws were recently overturned, in no small part because they inspired opposition and protest rallies. Now a new front is opening in WA, and we must again defend our civil rights.