Page 92 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 11 February 2020
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of protestors, bodies turning up in odd places, the sudden uptick in the apparent suicide rate in Hong Kong, with people apparently throwing themselves out of windows—all show the extent to which the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities have arced up at peaceful protest.
We must support those people, both at home and abroad, who manifest their concerns in a peaceful way. I would extend that to the people of the ACT and other places across Australia who are explicitly prohibited from protesting their views about abortion in particular places, no matter how peaceful. People praying are considered to be protesting against abortion and prohibited from doing so in a first world country, in a country where we are supposed to uphold people’s right to free speech. This piece of legislation was brought in by Ms Le Couteur’s colleague on the Green crossbench.
We have to be very careful when we stand up to extol the importance of peaceful protest that we get our message clear and that we clearly understand. I clearly understand the importance of peaceful protest. I clearly understand that young people from schools and people across the country are entitled to protest in favour of a particular view in relation to climate change. I may not agree with some of the things that they put forward. I may not necessarily agree with their method of protest. But they have a right to do it. But it is ironic that the people who stand up in a Voltairean way for people’s right to speak are not the Greens and not the Labor Party; they are the Liberal Party.
MR PETTERSSON (Yerrabi) (4.47): I rise to speak on a very important matter of public importance: the importance of peaceful protest. From the civil rights marches of the past to the school climate strikes of today, peaceful protest has always been a part of a healthy and strong democratic society. We are blessed to live in a society here in Canberra that embraces these ideals.
When we think about protest, we conjure up defining moments in our history. We think of the civil rights movement in America with the marches from Selma to Montgomery where state troopers attacked peaceful protestors who wanted racial equality. We think of Gandhi and his peaceful struggle for independence against the British Empire. We think of the unknown protestor bravely facing down tanks in Tiananmen Square. We think of the countless suffragettes who stood up generation after generation right around this world.
In our rich history of protest, we think about the freedom rides of Charlie Perkins; the Aboriginal tent embassy; the Wave Hill walk-off; Peter Norman giving up a hero’s welcome from the 1968 Olympic Games to stand in solidarity with fellow athletes; the green bans in the 70s by the then construction workers union, the BLF; the fight against damming the Franklin in Tasmania; the 1978 Sydney Mardi Gras; and the early organising of the trade union movement in shearing sheds in Queensland.
I mention these protests and movements, both big and small, because they were all peaceful protests fighting for the greater good: equality of race, wealth and opportunity. And they are all important turning points in our society. They signify a form of progress as society learns to wash away racism, hate and entrenched power structures.
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