Riots and rights. Equality, looting, stealing, violence and black lives matter. Women’s march, the Myanmar protests and school strike for climate. These may be just some of the things that come to mind when we think of protests. However, the fight for issues near and dear to our hearts, cuts across generations. For my generation, we fight to combat issues created by older generations for a world they don’t have to live in. Our right to protest seems universal to democratic living. So who would question whether we as Australians have the right to protest?

Protests have been a concrete part of freedom of speech for all of history. They are one keyway for the public to have a voice beyond the set political system and how we can exert our right to freedom of speech. And historically, when government systems or leaders restrict the right to protest there are riots and outbursts.

But us Aussies wouldn’t dare to think that we don’t have the right to protest right? We have freedom of speech, right? Well, unlike America, we don’t actually have the right to protest written into a constitution. Australia is a party to seven core international human rights treaties, two of which feature the right to freedom of assembly and association. But shockingly, this right is not recognised on a national level, meaning each state can and has made their own rules surrounding protesting. Some states like Victoria, Queensland and ACT have the right to protest protected in their state based human rights act but here in NSW, this is not the case.

There is a law in NSW that allows the right to peaceful assembly. In NSW Protests are always legal, but they may either be “authorised” or “prohibited”. But this right has been constrained and downright restricted. In Tasmania, New South Wales and Western Australia, governments have in recent times, introduced laws directed at curbing protest rights, known as ‘anti-protest laws.’ In 2017, NSW introduced new laws that increased fines tenfold for people protesting against mines and fracking, along with up to seven years in jail for hindering the use of mining equipment. In November 2019, NSW parliament passed the Right to Farm Bill, which punishes unlawful entry and disruption on "enclosed lands" with up to three years jail and fines of up to $22,000. This measure is aimed at animal activists who trespass on farmers' land.

The laws have been criticised as being vague and ill-defined, allowing excessive police powers, giving disproportionately harsh penalties, and prioritising forestry and mining operations over the rights of individuals to access public land and protest. This is effectively blocking activists like the knitting nannas, an anti-coal seam group of grandmothers and animal rights activists from protesting on site. Thus, reducing the impact of protests as they are more distant from the issue at hand.

However, it can be argued that these laws are in place for theoretically good reasons. Protests can cause damage of property and they need protection from vandalism, looting, property damage and more as well as the protection of people in the case of violent protests. Take covid 19 for example. Covid has caused the NSW government to enforce new restrictions on protesting in order to stop the spread. However, in some cases, covid has

been used as an excuse to limit protests. For example, when Sydney university had protests, they were limited to only 20 people outdoors, but in the same University were allowed 30 in a university classroom. While these restrictions were supposed to be for safety, the spread of covid occurs more in an enclosed area, therefore, this rule was somewhat illogical. In addition to this, police at the scene used covid as an excuse to use excessive force. There is a crucial balance between straight anarchy and authoritative, constrictive laws when it comes to protesting. It is important to not only ensure the safety of property and people but also give fair rights to those who wish to protest in lawful and peaceful ways.

Having the right to protest or assemble but putting extreme laws on protesting does not give Australians the right to protest. We need to have the right to have our voices heard and to be able to bring important issues to light. Our right to protest is fundamental and should be a human right no matter what state or country you live in.

The strongest way that we can have a say about the world that we will grow old in , that our children will grow up in, is having our voice heard through protests.

I wrote this speech above in August of 2021. Unfortunately, as 2022 has progressed, we have seen further regression of our rights. The NSW government has continued to reduce our rights to protest and it is becoming increasingly scary. As of Friday the 1st Apr 2022, the fines of up to $22,000 or years in jailtime not only apply to disruption on "enclosed lands" but also for illegal protests that ‘disrupt economic activity’. Attorney-General Mark Speakman said the laws applied to activities that "shut down major economic activity". This is an undeniably vague law that clearly relies on police and government discretion. Not only is the ‘disrupting economic activity’ part of this law vague and misleading but the more concerning word is ‘illegal’. Our government has introduced laws separating ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ protests. I pose the question, how can protests, an act that generally displays anger or a want for change from the government, need to be ‘approved’ by this same government? If a protest is a way for the public to have a voice beyond the set political system then why do we have to go back to the set political for ‘permission’ to speak against it?

The Greens said the laws undermine the right to peaceful protest, and targeted those whose causes did not fall into narrow union-led actions.

Metropolitan Roads Minister Natalie Ward said, "If you wan to protest you either do it lawfully or you face the consequences.” What is protesting lawfully? Protesting under the strict new laws our government keeps producing? Protesting with permission, not on enclosed lands, not disrupting traffic, not on public roads, rail lines, tunnels, bridges and industrial estates, not shutting down major economic activities.