The Greens, along with representatives from a large variety of Human Rights and Political groups including the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, the Maritime Union of Australia, Rising Tide, Extinction Rebellion, Palestine Action Group, First Mardi Gras Inc, Students for Palestine at Sydney Uni, and the North East Forest Alliance, held a press conference to condemn the recent crackdown on the right to protest.
They called on the Premier to reverse the anti-democratic laws that infringe on this fundamental right.
President of NSW Council for Civil Liberties Lydia Shelly said:
“The NSW Council for Civil Liberties will always stand up and defend our democratic freedoms. Our right to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. The silencing of dissent in this state has gone on for too long. Our democracy is under threat from laws that criminalise and repress the right to protest,”
“The public will not benefit from these [proposed] laws; where only the rich will be considered worthy to be able to express a political opinion. In a cost of living crisis, for such laws to be introduced, is scandalous and a betrayal to every person in NSW who is struggling to make ends meet. Their voices matter just as much as those who have not been touched by the cost of living crisis,”
“The idea that you can arrest your way towards social cohesion is fundamentally flawed. The idea that you can safeguard democracy by repressing and criminalising the right to protest, is Orwellian,” Ms Shelly said.
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