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AAP
AAP
Politics
Jack Gramenz

NSW protest laws won't stop blockades

NSW passed amendments providing jail terms, fines for protests blocking access to major facilities (AAP)

Harsher penalties for protesters in more areas have not deterred an activist group that spurred their introduction.

Amendments to existing legislation passed NSW parliament on Friday after being introduced on Wednesday.

They provide penalties of up to two years' jail and fines of up to $22,000 as well as creating new offences targeting people blocking access to major facilities including (but not limited to) ports and railways.

The changes came after action from the Blockade Australia movement, disrupting traffic on major roads and access to Port Botany.

However the new laws do not appear to have given them any pause.

"We're in the middle of a climate crisis, some people are more worried about that," Blockade Australia spokesperson Greg Rolles told AAP.

Mr Rolles said the blockades are the product of decades of "every other kind of protest" not achieving results.

"The only thing that has ever caused any real change from the people in power in the past is economic loss ... we're doing that now with non-violent direct action before climate collapse does it for us," Mr Rolles said.

He said the movement is not targeted at individuals but at the people in power who seek to "keep this crisis invisible".

Critics of the bill, particularly amongst the Greens, said it had been rushed through parliament and could stifle legitimate protest.

Those Greens were "showing their true colours" according to Attorney-General Mark Speakman.

"They're not green, they're black, they're anarchists," Mr Speakman said, describing the new laws as ones that protect ordinary citizens from random attacks.

The bill passed with the support of the Labor opposition, whose leader Chris Minns said blockading protesters risked alienating people from the cause of climate action by interrupting their daily lives.

"It's not like coal barons are the people being affected by these protests," Mr Minns said.

While the new laws appear to have done nothing to disturb Blockade Australia's plans there are concerns that vague language in the legislation and its swift introduction will be used against other groups protesting in the future.

The government says that is not their intention while rejecting amendments seeking to ensure people do not need permission from the police or the state to protest.

The Human Rights Law Centre said the "draconian new anti-protest law will hurt democracy".

Member groups, including the Aboriginal Legal Service, condemned the laws.

"For marginalised communities, public protests enable us to be seen and heard, even - and especially - when those in power would rather suppress our voices," ALS NSW/ACT chair Mark Davies said.

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