Tasmania protest laws set to be debated
Tasmania's controversial proposed anti-protest laws are closer to reality with state parliament agreeing to debate the details.
Designed by the Liberal government to shield workers from radical protesters, the would-be laws have drawn international condemnation from legal and human rights groups, including the United Nations.
While the original bill has been watered down to take in only the mining, forestry, agriculture, construction and manufacturing sectors, it still contains on-the-spot fines of up to $10,000 and mandatory three-month jail sentences for repeat offenders.
It is not the government's plan to shut down free speech or peaceful protest, Resources Minister Paul Harriss said.
"Rather, this is about those radical few for whom voicing their opinion is not enough; who instead have such arrogance and contempt for the rights of others that they act to physically stop a business from operating."
Tasmania's upper house late on Wednesday voted that the legislation should be further debated.
But legal groups have urged parliament to reject the legislation even in its amended form.
"The bill targets all instances of protest and silences public outcry on virtually all issues of public concern," Australian Lawyers for Human Rights said in a statement.
The group said the bill is broadly worded and can cover political, environmental, social, cultural or economic issues, while offering police and prosecutors discretionary powers which are inconsistent with human rights law.
The Tasmanian Greens said the proposal is more harsh than anti-terror laws being considered at a federal level.
"In Australia we do not have mandatory sentencing for people found guilty of acts of terrorism, yet in Tasmania people face mandatory imprisonment for exercising their right to protest," Greens Justice spokesman Nick McKim said.
In a September statement the UN's Human Rights division warned that if adopted, the disproportionate laws could run afoul of Australia's human rights obligations.
The bill will be further considered by a parliamentary committee in November.
