With the 'amendment', protesters still face potential jail time and hefty fines. That’s unacceptable in a modern democracy where peaceful protest should be protected.
LISA VISENTIN: ‘Australia’s NSW government will amend its controversial “Right to Farm” bill in a bid to allay concerns the proposed laws would criminalise peaceful protests on public land. Agricultural Minister Adam Marshall, who introduced the bill last month to crack down on so-called “vegan vigilante” activists, will amend the bill to clarify the new penalties will only apply to offences on agricultural land.
It follows an outcry from legal and environmental groups, including the NSW Bar Association which criticised the penalties as “harsh and disproportionate” and “likely to discourage people from exercising their right to peacefully protest.” The government claimed the laws were aimed at deterring animal rights activists from trespassing onto farms, as part of an election promise by the NSW Nationals to strengthen protections for farmers.
The bill increases the penalties of “aggravated unlawful entry on inclosed lands”, contained in the Inclosed Lands Protection Act, from a fine of $5500 to a maximum penalty of $22,000 and three years imprisonment. The concerns hinged on the act’s broad definition of “inclosed lands”, which includes “any other public or private land that is inclosed or surrounded by a fence or wall”.
Mr Marshall said the amendment would “remove any ambiguity about the intent and scope of the bill” by making clear the offences applied to “agricultural land” only. Agricultural land will be defined in the legislation as including farms for “agricultural purposes”, such as orchards, as well as businesses that keep, breed, and slaughter livestock, and forestry businesses including timber mills…
Nature Conservation Council chief executive Chris Gambian said the amendment “represents significant progress by the more sober heads in government”, but protesters still faced potential jail time and hefty fines. “That’s simply unacceptable in a modern democracy where peaceful protest should be protected,” Mr Gambian said’. SOURCE…
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