Spring Rebellion.

(source)

Last week Peter Dutton, the federal Minister for Home Affairs (for overseas readers: a sort of Australian version of the US Department of Homeland Security), possibly on account of his experience as a Queensland Police Service officer, asked for climate change activists to be subject to mandatory criminal penalties, named and shamed, because they were a threat to the public.

Tim Hansen, commander of the Melbourne north-west metropolitan region of the Victoria Police, warned that the Extinction Rebellion movement had been infiltrated by fringe groups.

Asked his opinion on Dutton’s proposal, David Littleproud, agreed: “Everyone wants a cause these days. They become angry and impose their will on the Australian people”.

The photo above shows two NSW police officers risking their lives as they arrest an extremely dangerous grandpop, possibly even a fringe bowls club member. More on that from ABC News.

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SBS News Australia and New Zealand coverage.

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Links:

Extinction Rebellion

Melbourne Activist Legal Support
“Melbourne Activist Legal Support (MALS) supports activists to defend their own civil and political rights.”

CounterAct
“CounterAct was launched in 2012 to support communities in taking effective, creative, strategic action on issues of environmental and social justice.”

Environmental Defenders Office New South Wales
“Each year the Environmental Defenders Office New South Wales (EDO NSW) provides free legal advice to more than 1,000 individuals and community groups across NSW. We also run free legal workshops for local communities. EDO NSW has run a number of landmark legal cases in the courts and undertakes policy and law reform work at both the State and Federal level.”