Protesters gathered on the steps of the Victorian Parliament on August 12 for a rally organised by the Defend Dissent Coalition against the “Social Cohesion Pledge”, which Labor intends to table at the end of the month.
Krauatungalung elder Djuran Bunjileenee, also known as Robbie Thorpe, Palestinian-Australian activist Mai Saif, Amelia Kirk-Harkin, a member of the Construction Mining Forestry and Employees Union and a mother and Jordy Silverstein, a historian and member of the Loud Jew Collective, addressed the protest.
Despite the subsequent roll-back of aspects of the new laws, to prohibit protesters from wearing face masks (which would have put disabled and immune compromised people’s health at risk), the pledge still seeks to outlaw the use of lock-on devices, which have long been part of non-violent civil disobedience protests, and to ban protests close to places of worship — most of the CBD.
All the speakers condemned the proposed new laws, asking who “public protection policies” really protect?
If they are meant to address hate crimes and racism, why were scores of neo-Nazis from the Nationalist Socialist Network allowed to march through the CBD, as they did on August 10 at 1am, with police protection?
The pledge does nothing to address antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism or far-right extremism.
The proposed laws are designed to criminalise protest by empowering the Victorian Police, that are notorious for their abuse of power.