Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has been criticised for calling for mandatory sentences for people who break the law while protesting, and for suggesting protesters on welfare should have their payments cancelled.
Mr Dutton has taken aim at magistrates who impose"slap on the wrist" penalties on protesters after the Brisbane CBD endured a spate of recent traffic-stopping demonstrations."A community expectation is that these people are heavily fined or jailed." Ten people involved with environmental group Extinction Rebellion have been charged this week for blocking roads during morning peak hour.It has followed months of regular protest actions in Brisbane and elsewhere in the state attended by thousands of people, mostly over environmental issues such as climate change and Adani's central Queensland coal mine.
But using mandatory sentencing to crack down on protesters would be extreme and populist, Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts said.Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton."There is a complete difference between occupying an intersection for 10 minutes opposed to chaining yourself to a 44-gallon drum full of concrete and holding up a coal train for five hours."
Mr Dutton also said he agreed with suggestions from 2GB broadcaster Ray Hadley on Thursday that protesters go"ask Mummy and Daddy for cash" following reports some demonstrators received welfare.Mr Dutton's response was"I agree".With AAP...
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