Outrageous anti-protest laws

May 25, 2023

Clearly the SA government was annoyed by the protests at the APPEA conference: by the Thursday of that week, the lower house had passed legislation dramatically increasing penalties for public protests.

If you are concerned about this threat to democracy, come to the snap protest this Friday, May 26th at 6pm at Parliament House. Event by Adelaide Uni Students for Climate Justice, Adelaide Campaign Against Racism and Fascism and others

Earlier this week, the Human Rights Law Centre released an explainer which revealed many of the problems with the ill-considered legislation

The Bill: Summary Offences (obstruction of Public Places) Amendment 2023 (SA)

On 18 May 2023, the South Australian Legislative Assembly introduced, and passed, the Summary Offences (Obstruction of Public Places) Amendment (The Bill) in response to protest activity in Adelaide which briefly closed traffic. The Bill amends section 58 of the Summary Offences Act 1953 (The Act) to, among other things, dramatically increase the maximum penalty for obstructing a public place. The Bill is currently before the Legislative Council for deliberation.
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Section 2(1)

2(1)

Section 2(1) of the Bill increases the penalty for obstructing a public place from $750 to a maximum of $50,000 or a maximum term of imprisonment of 3 months. This is a 60-fold increase to the maximum financial penalty; the Act does not currently provide imprisonment as a penalty for obstructing a public place. It is intended that these penalties would have a strong deterrent effect to protestors who block public space.

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Section (3) (1a)

Section (3) (1a) of the Bill makes defendants criminally responsible for their direct obstruction of a public place, but it also intends to capture conduct even if it indirectly causes obstruction of a public place.

The Bill provides an example of what this may include, namely, if police or other emergency services need to restrict access to the public place to, “safely deal with the person’s conduct”. In other words, a person may be found guilty of an offence for the acts of police or other emergency services if they obstruct a public place while they respond to the defendant.

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Section (3)(1b)

Section (3)(1b) of the Bill would allow police and other emergency services to recover their ‘reasonable costs’ from defendants for dealing with the relevant obstruction. This is on top of any other penalty that a court may impose, like a fine or imprisonment.

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Further, the amendments contained in the Bill would make the offence of obstructing a public place easier to establish and, in so doing, could capture a wide variety of conduct. For example, a person sleeping rough on a pavement, someone handing out flyers in a street, workers and their unions protesting for better pay, young people striking for climate action, or a situation where a person, due to illness or impairment, may not fully understand that they are blocking public space.

The changes contained in the Bill will ultimately undermine the ability of everyone in South Australia to exercise their right to peacefully protest.

— excerpts from the HRLC explainer, which can be viewed in full here

Actions, Adelaide FoE Notes, Clean Futures

New report from lock the gate…

March 27, 2023

A new report by renowned environmental scientist Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe finds that methane emissions from coal, oil and gas facilities make up ~70% of total greenhouse gas emissions covered under the federal Safeguard Mechanism (SGM), when the global warming impact is calculated over a 20-year period. Methane devastates the climate. It is 85 times more potent than CO2 over 20 years.

Accounting responsibly for the severe short-term warming impact of methane emissions shows that coal mining is by far the biggest emitter of all heavy industries covered by the Safeguard Mechanism in Australia currently, followed by oil and gas.

The report, “Short-term warming effect of methane from fossil fuels and implications for the Safeguard Mechanism”, also finds that the unlimited use of carbon offsets by methane-emitting facilities allowed under the SGM is irretrievably flawed. There is no technically feasible way to draw down methane from the atmosphere and no “like for like” offsetting is possible.

Download the full report here.

Climate, Old_Notes

What happens when we can detect nuclear subs?

March 16, 2023

New details of the AUKUS defence and security pact have revealed Australia will buy three second-hand US Virginia-class submarines early next decade (and potentially two more), subject to approval by US Congress.

Australia will also build a fleet of eight nuclear-powered SSN-AUKUS boats at Adelaide’s Osborne Naval Shipyard. The first will be delivered by 2042, with five completed by the 2050s, and construction of the remaining three going into the 2060s.

It’s estimated the program will cost between A$268 billion and A$368 billion over the next three decades.

Make no mistake. Modern submarines, especially nuclear-powered ones, are one of the most potent and effective weapon systems in today’s world. That is, until they aren’t.

Our analysis shows they might soon be so easily detected they could become billion-dollar coffins.
[…]

Subs in the ocean are large, metallic anomalies that move in the upper portion of the water column. They produce more than sound. As they pass through the water, they disturb it and change its physical, chemical and biological signatures. They even disturb Earth’s magnetic field – and nuclear subs unavoidably emit radiation.

Science is learning to detect all these changes, to the point where the oceans of tomorrow may become “transparent”. The submarine era could follow the battleship era and fade into history.

— read the full article “Progress in detection tech could render submarines useless by the 2050s. What does it mean for the AUKUS pact?” at theconversation.com

FoE, Old_Notes

Barngarla have their say in court

March 16, 2023

Monday March 6th: People gather at the Federal Court hearing to support Barngarla people
3 Angas St, right next to Victoria Square / Tarntanyangga (south-east cnr of Victoria Square / Tarntanyangga)

 

Here are some things that you can do to support:

 

FoE, Old_Notes

Climate Justice

February 19, 2023

We need responses that are truly intersectional. So how about as we decarbonise and create a less polluted world, we also build a much fairer society on multiple fronts?
Many environmentalists hear that and think: “Well, that sounds a lot harder than just implementing a carbon tax or switching to green energy.” And the argument we make in the climate justice movement is that what we’re trying to do is to build a power base that is invested in climate action. Because if you’re only talking about carbon, then anybody who has a more daily emergency – whether it’s police violence, gender violence or housing precarity – is going to think: “That’s a rich person problem. I’m focused on the daily emergency of staying alive.” But if you can connect the issues and show how climate action can create better jobs and redress gaping inequalities, and lower stress levels, then you start getting people’s attention and you build a broader constituency that is invested in getting climate policies passed.
I don’t believe we have the luxury of throwing up our hands and saying: “We’re doomed, let’s just go Mad Max on this.” I think there are ways of preparing for those shocks, that build a way of living with one another that is significantly kinder and more generous than the way we currently live with one another, which is really quite brutal. That requires investing in the labour of care at every level, and guaranteeing basic economic rights, like the right to housing, food and clean water. If we build out that infrastructure, we can weather shocks with far greater grace. That’s where I place my hope.
— from an interview with Naomi Klein by Madeleine de Trenqualye in the Guardian

Climate