Protect our Civil Liberties

If you're a Queensland resident, your right to protest is under threat.

Right now, the Queensland Labor Government is considering whether to pass the new Summary Offences and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 - otherwise known as the "Dangerous Devices Bill". This bill is the first step to eroding our democratic rights in QLD and any law that chips away at our rights is disastorous in the long run.

This bill has come on the back of mass peaceful protests all around Queensland, demanding urgent climate action. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has made allegations of protesters using booby-trapped lock-on devices, but ...

If you're a Queensland resident, your right to protest is under threat.

Right now, the Queensland Labor Government is considering whether to pass the new Summary Offences and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 - otherwise known as the "Dangerous Devices Bill". This bill is the first step to eroding our democratic rights in QLD and any law that chips away at our rights is disastorous in the long run.

This bill has come on the back of mass peaceful protests all around Queensland, demanding urgent climate action. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has made allegations of protesters using booby-trapped lock-on devices, but the government hasn't provided any factual evidence to back up these claims.

So what's concerning about this bill? It widens police search powers, allowing them to search any person or vehicle that they suspect could be in possession of these dangerous devices. This relies on police using their own discretions to search people, yet police have a known-history of abusing such discretionary powers, such as strip searches.

This bill can also be used as a reason to prevent peaceful protesting, allowing the Government to avoid facing public pressure and taking real action on climate change. By widening police powers, people might feel too intimidated or threatened of being searched for 'dangerous devices' to attend democratic public demonstrations like marches or rallies.

Most worryingly is that Queensland already has a long history of silencing protests and freedom of speech and this bill could send us back to the horrors of the 1970's and 80's.

Back in 1992, the then Labor Attorney General, Dean Wells, blasted the previous conservative government for measures that made protesting illegal. Back then, the Labor Government was proud to support peaceful protest and now the Labor State Gov wants to apply the same types of anti-democratic laws.

With no factual evidence to back it up, this dangerous devices bill protects no one and simply takes us closer to a police state. Our democratic right to demand climate action shouldn't be suppressed.

Submissions close at 12pm on Tuesday 8th October.

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Protect Our Civil Liberties

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For QLD residents - Help protect our democracy by sending an email to the Queensland parliament's Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee, raising your concerns about the erosion of our civil liberties.

We have written a draft email for you, but please edit and include your personal opinion to give you submission a greater impact.

A submission can be as long or short as you like. You can submit a few sentences, or you can write at length. Please be polite, and use facts if possible.

To ensure your submission is valid and can be considered by the Committee please include: Your name, email, and phone number

Submissions close at 12pm on Tuesday 8th October.

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Dear Members,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on the Summary Offences and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019.

I am writing to you to express my deep concern and opposition to these new laws, which are disproportionate, overreaching, and appear to have no evidential basis.

I am especially concerned with the excessive police powers within this proposed legislation. Police have broad stop and search powers in Queensland, under the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 which they already use liberally to conduct searches on people suspected of being involved in activism. Greater police discretion means more power for those in charge and more ability to use force when it is expedient. It is likely that these new powers could be applied in arbitrary and possibly discriminatory ways.

This Bill will grant Police increased authority to issue fines for activities related to protesting. Vesting police with this discretion about whether certain protesting activities will constitute an offence essentially authorises police to be the arbiters of what constitutes a legitimate protest activity.

Of further concern is that there appears to be no factual basis for this Bill. The justification for this Bill and the new criminal offences and police search powers it proposes originated in serious allegations that protesters were “booby-trapping” devices to harm themselves or others. To date, there has been no evidence produced in support of these claims, and it appears to be entirely fabricated. This is a dangerous position from which to be creating new laws.

Similar laws attempted in Western Australia in 2015 drew extensive criticism from a number of human rights and advocacy groups, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who released a statement opposing the legislation for its attempts at ‘criminalising lawful protests and silencing environmentalists and human rights defenders’. It was later abandoned.

Common to these anti-protest laws are the prioritisation of business interests over the rights of Australians, under the facade of public safety.

I am also very concerned that these proposed laws aim to silence dissent, and are not consistent with community expectations or the democratic pillars on which Australia is built. Like the 97%+ scientists, who are backed by thousands of peer-reviewed papers, the wider Queensland community understands the realities and urgency of the climate crisis, and they want their governments to act on this.

Targeting members of the public who participate in protest action by banning an effective method of peaceful protest through legislation is unjustifiably inconsistent with our right to freedom of expression. This right is protected by section 7 of the Human Rights Act (Qld) and articles 19 and 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Protesting is a necessary mechanism for civic engagement and pressuring change when governments are no longer listening to their constituents. Civil disobedience, including the actions this Bill targets, is an important form of protest. Most activists undertake such actions not to cause harm, but to raise necessary alarm, and signal that they do not consent to the status quo. The suggestion that the government should decide when people protest and what they should get to protest about is inconsistent with strong democratic protections.

Activists break laws because living in a democracy comes not only with rights but with obligations. Our democracy isn’t something that “happens” to us once every couple of years at the polling booth. Its enduring success rests on vital foundations like press freedom, freedom of assembly, the rule of law and the right to dissent. Protest outside of the law is part of our democracy, and has a long and important history. When governments chip away at our protest rights, they erode our democracy. To protect our democracy and help ensure a better future for all Australians, we must protect our protest rights.

History is filled with examples of the efficacy of such non-violent direct action, especially peaceful disruptions. This form of protest helped to win the eight-hour working day, to protect the Franklin and the Daintree and advance Aboriginal land rights. Protest helped to secure women’s right to vote, to stop our involvement in the Vietnam War and end the criminalisation of homosexuality. Protest continues to play a key role in highlighting the cruelty of our refugee policies, in protecting workers’ rights, in stopping coal seam gas exploration and so much more.

To allow legislation that actively undermines the efficacy of protest activity is a disservice to our social growth.

I urge the committee to reject this Bill.

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