Parliament House

Join us at Parliament House on Thursday 16th May as we launch a campaign to repeal the undemocratic SA anti-protest laws on the first anniversary of their introduction.

Passed by the South Australian Parliament in just 20 minutes, and without consultation, these laws escalated penalties in the Summary Offences Act for obstructing public places from $750 to $50,000 (or 3 months) imprisonment. These new laws are part of a concerning trend nationwide of introducing legislation to repress protest. They broaden the scope of offences that police can use and further criminalise peaceful community activism.

Protests and social movements have delivered our civil and political rights. Tolerance of dissent and even civil disobedience are hallmarks of a strong democracy. History has vindicated many acts of disobedience, including ‘Votes for Women’, the global suffrage movement; American Civil Rights Movement; Builder’s Labourers Federation Green Bans; and Vietnam Moratorium marches that blocked Adelaide intersections. With implied threats of extreme fines and jail time, the new laws have had a chilling and repressive effect on protest. This often disproportionately impacts those with marginalised identities, who so often have played a key role in bringing about social change.

The South Australian community deserves laws that are the result of deliberation and consultation, not policy on the run, so we’re calling on the SA Parliament to go back to drawing board and reconsider them.

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