Wednesday, 5 February 2025

Political protests

Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (17:01): I rise to speak on the threat to the right to protest here in Victoria and the rise of the far right. Protest is a public expression of where people are at and how they feel about a certain issue. It brings people together when they are feeling frustrated, unrepresented and marginalised. It is an opportunity to participate in democracy besides casting a vote every three or four years. Protest is an indicator of where a government is letting people down. Protest challenges governments to do better. It pushes the government and public sentiment to change. And protest is a cornerstone of democracy. It is through protest that we have the right to vote and that we have marriage quality. It is even the reason that people like me, many of the members opposite and even the Premier herself can sit in the Parliament and represent our constituents.

That is why the right to protest is protected. It is protected internationally by article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and here in Victoria by the charter of human rights. Public assemblies are protected by the implied freedom of political communication under the Australian constitution because they are an essential form of political communication, so when we see a government trying to stifle protest, turning on the communities who express dissent and criticise their actions, we pay attention. The South African apartheid regime restricted protest when people stood up against racial segregation. The fascist Mussolini government banned political gatherings that were not approved by the state. Sound familiar? Restricting protest is a red flag. It is a sign that the government do not want to listen to the people, that they are turning their backs on the people and that there may be worse to come.

Here in Naarm we know our values and we are proud to stand by them, whether it is First Nations justice, climate action or refugee rights, and for over a year the people of Melbourne have shown one of the biggest, most consistent displays of solidarity and protest. They are protesting Israel’s genocide in Palestine of Palestinian people and our government’s complicity in that genocide. Week after week people from all backgrounds and faiths have turned up in our thousands to come together to share stories, to grieve and to organise. Peacefully we march the streets, calling on our government to change course and to cut its ties with the Israeli military apartheid regime and with weapons companies that profit from causing so much harm. But instead of listening to the community and encouraging that conversation to take place, the government has seen the criticism and the inconvenience of the protests and is trying to stamp them out. They have announced that they will ban face coverings at public gatherings, they will ban people from carrying locks, chains, ropes and glue at protests, they will ban protests outside places of worship and they will force multicultural organisations to sign a social cohesion pledge just to apply for funding from the government.

It seems they expect protests to be polite, orderly and convenient and for organisations to fall into line with government policy and turn a blind eye to injustice.

I will tell you what is convenient – a letter is convenient, a petition is polite, a meeting request at your convenience is convenient. But guess what? All of those have been ignored, dismissed and refused, so when it gets to that point it is no wonder that protest becomes one of the only ways that communities can have their voice heard: peaceful disruption, civil disobedience, or as some for decades in the religious justice movements have called it ‘divine obedience’ – answering a call to be moral and just, one that has seen nuns from the ploughshare movement destroy nuclear warheads at military bases. It has seen Martin Luther King arrested for asserting his right and the right of black people to occupy public spaces. Dissent has never been neat and pleasant, and when a government is called up for failing your community in so many ways, you bet you can expect to be inconvenienced. But the government is proposing instead to criminalise and restrict behaviours that are not criminal – it is not criminal to carry glue – but in fact are a part of a healthy democracy. A recent report from independent legal observers –

Members interjecting.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

Gabrielle DE VIETRI: Thank you, Deputy Speaker. A recent report from independent legal observers at Melbourne Activist Legal Support demonstrates how Victoria Police showcased an alarming escalation in the use of force on anti-war protesters outside the largest weapons expo in the Southern Hemisphere. They reported on how police used chemical weapons, explosives and projectiles, whips and batons indiscriminately against peaceful protesters, legal observers, journalists and bystanders, some of whom sustained serious injuries. Police sprayed OC foam – chemical weapons – directly into the faces of protesters posing no threat. Projectile rounds were issued against people with their hands in the air. Police used dangerous riot control tactics, driving horses into trapped crowds, causing chaotic situations, which only escalated tensions and created unsafe conditions for both protesters and animals alike, including people with disabilities and limited mobility who were injured due to these unsafe practices. The MALS report clearly shows that the heavy police presence escalated the violence that we saw at Land Forces weapons expo, a police presence that was called in by the Premier.

So instead of listening to the people and what they are protesting, the Premier has declared that she is ‘sick of this stuff’ and retaliated to announce this series of anti-protest laws, laws that are designed to intimidate protesters by criminalising some of the basic nonviolent direct action tactics, such as carrying glue and lock-on devices, that have been used by movements to change laws decade after decade. Professor Luke McNamara, an Australian Human Rights Institute associate, explains:

The right to protest means very little if it doesn’t include the right to disrupt. Interruption has long been at the heart of effective protest strategies. Some of the most successful and celebrated non-violent protests in history have focused on economic disruption – from lunch counter sit-ins in the USA during the 1960s civil rights movement, to economic sanctions imposed on South Africa during the 1980s in the struggle to end apartheid.

Juliana Addison interjected.

Gabrielle DE VIETRI: Member for Wendouree, we must not forget Muriel Matters, who in 1908 was the very first Australian woman to speak in Parliament. She had to chain herself to the public gallery so that she could finish her speech before being carried away. We owe our presence here to women like Muriel Matters, who protested, who disrupted and who resisted the unjust laws of the government at their time to give us the rights that we have today.

But this announcement is a signal from the government that they want protesters to just shut their mouths and go away. While the Premier obsesses over a movement of peaceful protesters, there is a concerning rise of far-right neo-Nazis right here in Victoria. Increases in public neo-Nazi gatherings demonstrate the emboldened nature of far-right extremists in recent years. Last December we had neo-Nazis with antisemitic signs on the steps of Parliament. We had Nazis crashing a peaceful rally for asylum seekers in November and Nazis holding up a vile sign that threatened violence against the trans community in 2023. These groups openly and shamelessly spread racist, anti-immigrant rhetoric.

After having seen these far-right groups gathering in 2018 in the Grampians to organise, it was the Greens who called for a parliamentary inquiry into the rise of the far right, with much resistance from the Liberal Party. Evidence from that inquiry revealed the growing confidence of these groups and their reliance on fearmongering to expand their influence. Far-right extremists exploit societal crises to recruit members. They radicalise people by preying on their fears, their anxieties and their feelings of marginalisation. They deliberately target vulnerable individuals, particularly young people, via online platforms, capitalising on resentment and social disconnection. Far-right movements are steeped in misogyny, racism and a backlash against progress in social justice. Public displays of racism, violence and intimidation are designed to suppress dissent and maintain oppressive power structures. Mocking woke values is a deliberate strategy to undermine progress and sustain inequality.

But this is not just some marginal growth in Victoria. Globally, just a few weeks ago at Trump’s inauguration we saw the normalisation of the far right when Elon Musk performed a Nazi salute on the world stage. This is not just a political movement; it is a crisis of humanity and of democracy, with major consequences for people and the planet. We are warned of how far-right populism normalises the erosion of hard-fought rights, including gender equality, LGBTIQA+ rights and the welcoming of migrants. Let me take this opportunity to say now loud and clear to our trans community here in Victoria that we will stand by you. No matter what challenges lie ahead, we will do everything in our power to make sure that your rights are protected and that you have the autonomy and the safety to be exactly who you are.

The widespread toxic enmeshment of conservative political forces and corporate elites has created a dangerous confluence of wealth, power and authoritarianism. Far-right populists blame marginalised groups, immigrants, women, First Nations people and progressives for societal woes that distract from the true drivers of inequality: corporate greed and oligarchic power. Democratic institutions are being hollowed out, freedoms eroded and decisions about our future made by people no longer in the interests of the many but for the profits of the few. Across this country and the globe we see leaders making profit off genocide, leaders who embrace fossil fuel corporations while the planet burns, leaders who protect the powerful and protect the institutions while communities cry out for justice and leaders who deny basic human rights in pursuit of their twisted, profit-driven ideology.

Maintaining the status quo is not the answer. The answer lies in solidarity, courage and relentless organising. We need grassroots movements that disrupt the system of exploitation and oppression – movements that call upon those in power to act and act themselves. The rise of far-right extremists and the far-right oligarchy is not a hypothetical danger or something overseas that we are disconnected from. Right here in Victoria we see the seeds of this trend: corporate lobbying shaping policy, the militarisation of public spaces and the demonisation of those who dare to resist.

We must stand together to reject far-right extremism and push for systemic change that addresses inequality at its roots. Grassroots activism and mass mobilisation are essential to counter the rise of far-right extremism and extend a vision of a fair, inclusive and sustainable future for everybody. We need bold action, and we need it now. We need people who are unafraid to call out the truth and who will not be silenced by intimidation or wealth. We need mass mobilisation that unites workers, First Nations communities, young people, renters, activists, artists and everyone who believes in a future free from oppression. I am inspired every day by the people who refuse to give in – those who chain themselves to coal trains, who march in the street despite police intimidation, who defend public housing from privatisation, who build mutual aid networks in their communities and who peacefully protest to block the flow of weapons. These people are the backbone of change, not the executives sitting in corporate boardrooms or the career politicians too afraid to upset them. Democracy cannot survive in a society where power is concentrated in the hands of a wealthy few, and humanity cannot survive in a system that prioritises profit over life itself.