❓ The Minister for Police addresses concerns about dangerous protester behaviour, highlighting the government's introduction of legislation to penalise the use of lock-on devices that obstruct lawful activities, aiming to balance the right to protest with the rights of businesses.
AnsweredQoN 131Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CRIMINAL
CODE AMENDMENT (PREVENTION OF LAWFUL ACTIVITY) BILL 2015
131. Mr J. NORBERGER to the
Minister for Police:
Can the minister please advise the
house how the government proposes to address the growing incidence of dangerous
behaviour by some protesters?
CODE AMENDMENT (PREVENTION OF LAWFUL ACTIVITY) BILL 2015
131. Mr J. NORBERGER to the
Minister for Police:
Can the minister please advise the
house how the government proposes to address the growing incidence of dangerous
behaviour by some protesters?
AnswerView source ↗
The Liberal–National government introduced
legislation in the other place aimed at addressing the exact behaviour that the
member for Joondalup raises. I appreciate the member raising this matter. This
government believes that although people have a democratic right to protest,
companies and employees of those companies also have the right to conduct their
business. In the past few years, we have seen the radicalisation of a lot of
these protest actions. We are seeing protesters using lock-on devices —
Mr
D.J. Kelly interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Bassendean, I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : We are increasingly seeing the action of protesters designed
in such a way as to prevent the lawful actions of other people. We have seen
protesters stick their arms into pipes, lock their thumbs into thumb locks and
lock themselves onto roads, preventing the lawful activity and the lawful
progression of machinery and equipment to undertake exploration activity, for example.
I have some pictures of these lock-on devices. Mr Speaker, I asked you whether
it was all right to bring these pictures into the chamber. These are photos of
the sorts of devices that people are using. This one has big lumps of concrete
with chain intertwined through it. A pipe goes through the middle. It is a
44-gallon drum. The edge of the drum has been cut away. Locked into the middle
of that, if members take a close look, is a protester's arm.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Mandurah, I call you to order for the first time.
Member for West Swan, I call you to order for the first time. I do not want the
minister drowned out.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : As I said, police officers tried to extricate the arm of that
protester from inside the lock-on device without causing injury to that
protester. It required significant resources of our emergency services and our
police officers to release these protesters.
Dr
A.D. Buti interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : This government says that that is no longer acceptable. We
believe in people's right to protest but not their right to prevent the
lawful activity of other people in our community. We have introduced
legislation that will now make it an offence for people to possess, manufacture
or use one of these lock-on devices that can prevent the lawful activity of
other people. That offence will be punishable by up to 12 months'
imprisonment and/or a $12 000 fine.
Dr
A.D. Buti interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I call you to order for the second time.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : A circumstance of aggravation, importantly, could be that the
protester has been injured in the course of being removed from a lock-on device
that has become problematic for police to remove them from, and for
circumstances of aggravation we are looking at doubling the penalty. The reason
we are doing this, and I think this is really important, is that —
Mr W.J. Johnston interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Cannington, I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : We are doing this because protesters will lock themselves onto
these devices in the middle of a road that may be the only access road to a
site where a company has a lawful right to conduct its activities. It is not
good enough that they can do that. In remote locations and in certain
circumstances, this sometimes requires police officers to deploy fire trucks.
They have to send up a specialist crew of police officers; we have to fly them to
remote areas from Perth to remove these protesters from lock-on devices that
they have chosen to lock themselves onto. We sometimes have to bring in cranes
and police officers then have to try to cut thumb locks off people using angle
grinders. That is not a job that I think police officers should have to do, but
in this day and age, with radicalised protesters, that is what we need to do.
It is not good enough. We have introduced legislation to prohibit this
activity. Protesters who have been charged with these offences will also need
to pay the costs to the community of their removal from devices. This is great
legislation and it will help the state progress.
legislation in the other place aimed at addressing the exact behaviour that the
member for Joondalup raises. I appreciate the member raising this matter. This
government believes that although people have a democratic right to protest,
companies and employees of those companies also have the right to conduct their
business. In the past few years, we have seen the radicalisation of a lot of
these protest actions. We are seeing protesters using lock-on devices —
Mr
D.J. Kelly interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Bassendean, I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : We are increasingly seeing the action of protesters designed
in such a way as to prevent the lawful actions of other people. We have seen
protesters stick their arms into pipes, lock their thumbs into thumb locks and
lock themselves onto roads, preventing the lawful activity and the lawful
progression of machinery and equipment to undertake exploration activity, for example.
I have some pictures of these lock-on devices. Mr Speaker, I asked you whether
it was all right to bring these pictures into the chamber. These are photos of
the sorts of devices that people are using. This one has big lumps of concrete
with chain intertwined through it. A pipe goes through the middle. It is a
44-gallon drum. The edge of the drum has been cut away. Locked into the middle
of that, if members take a close look, is a protester's arm.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Mandurah, I call you to order for the first time.
Member for West Swan, I call you to order for the first time. I do not want the
minister drowned out.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : As I said, police officers tried to extricate the arm of that
protester from inside the lock-on device without causing injury to that
protester. It required significant resources of our emergency services and our
police officers to release these protesters.
Dr
A.D. Buti interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : This government says that that is no longer acceptable. We
believe in people's right to protest but not their right to prevent the
lawful activity of other people in our community. We have introduced
legislation that will now make it an offence for people to possess, manufacture
or use one of these lock-on devices that can prevent the lawful activity of
other people. That offence will be punishable by up to 12 months'
imprisonment and/or a $12 000 fine.
Dr
A.D. Buti interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I call you to order for the second time.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : A circumstance of aggravation, importantly, could be that the
protester has been injured in the course of being removed from a lock-on device
that has become problematic for police to remove them from, and for
circumstances of aggravation we are looking at doubling the penalty. The reason
we are doing this, and I think this is really important, is that —
Mr W.J. Johnston interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Cannington, I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : We are doing this because protesters will lock themselves onto
these devices in the middle of a road that may be the only access road to a
site where a company has a lawful right to conduct its activities. It is not
good enough that they can do that. In remote locations and in certain
circumstances, this sometimes requires police officers to deploy fire trucks.
They have to send up a specialist crew of police officers; we have to fly them to
remote areas from Perth to remove these protesters from lock-on devices that
they have chosen to lock themselves onto. We sometimes have to bring in cranes
and police officers then have to try to cut thumb locks off people using angle
grinders. That is not a job that I think police officers should have to do, but
in this day and age, with radicalised protesters, that is what we need to do.
It is not good enough. We have introduced legislation to prohibit this
activity. Protesters who have been charged with these offences will also need
to pay the costs to the community of their removal from devices. This is great
legislation and it will help the state progress.
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