The jailing of a protester in New South Wales has sparked an outcry, with independent senator David Pocock leading a chorus of condemnation amid calls to protect the right to protest.
“The right to protest is fundamental to our democracy,” the senator said after Deanna “Violet” Coco was sentenced to 15 months in prison, with a non-parole period of eight months. Her crime? Blocking a lane of traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge in April as part of a climate protest.
Several states – with Labor and Coalition governments – have in recent months passed tough anti-protest laws that have drawn criticism for being anti-democratic. Coco’s case was the first time such laws were put to the test.
The major parties remained defiant with the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, saying the sentence was “pleasing to see”, while his Labor opponent, Chris Minns, said he had no regrets for supporting anti-protest laws.
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China’s zero-Covid protests
China has been rocked by an outpouring of communal anger at the government’s restrictive zero-Covid lockdown policies. Could the protests develop into something more substantial? Listen to this 27-minute episode.
What they said …
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“Peaceful protesters should never be criminalised or imprisoned.” – Clement Voule, UN official
Voule, who is the UN special rapporteur on freedom of association and peaceful assembly, tweeted the remarks, leading a flurry of condemnation on the jailing of Coco. Our climate and environment editor, Adam Morton, called it “a bad day for democratic expression in Australia” in his column today – well worth a read.
In numbers
The increase to the youth allowance, Austudy and carer payments is part of a routine adjustment to keep up with increases in the consumer price index.
Before bed read
There’s going to be a lot of coverage – some of it ugly – of the Indigenous voice to parliament as we inch closer to a referendum. So let’s start off with the basic facts: what is it and how would it work?
Be informed before you vote, and if you have friends or family who aren’t quite sure what it is, feel free to send them the link to this explainer.
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