The NSW Government has on the review into the Roads and Crimes Legislation Amendment Act 2022, 43 days after it was legally obliged to do so, and has ignored thousands of submissions from the public calling for a repeal of the anti-protest laws. The report was tabled as the NSW Parliament debated a motion by the Greens to disallow new regulations that extend the laws.
Greens MP and spokesperson for justice Sue Higginson said “The report that has been tabled today is a disgrace, it has failed to listen to the community consultation and has disregarded the fact that it was more than a month overdue and that the laws have been declared partially unconstitutional by the Supreme Court,”
“Public consultation, like protest, is a key pillar of our democracy – this report is a spit in the face to both of those pillars. The public consultation in this case, where only one submission out of thousands supported the anti-protest laws, has resulted in no recommendation for change. This erodes the public’s trust in Parliament and our democracy, I am furious,”
“The Government has failed to abide by the laws that they rushed through in 2022 by failing to table the report on 1 October, yet they have the temerity to expand those laws while the community was still waiting to hear back on the consultation that we had to fight so hard for,”
“The Greens fought against these laws in 2022, and this new expansion is something we are attempting to disallow in Parliament today. The community should feel empowered to engage in peaceful protests, even if it’s inconvenient for others – that’s sometimes the point or consequence of protest,”
“It is a shame that the NSW Labor Party is no longer a party that understands the importance of protests, strikes and other acts of political communication to the Government.” Ms Higginson said.
