We could have started off with a lawyer joke, but honestly we are so very lucky to have had the chance to deal with the best of them in our work supporting activists with legal information, referrals and “know your rights” briefings across the country. No joke lawyers – we need you!
We unfortunately see repression continuing to grow – an unprecedented attack on nonviolent activists happened today with three people on minor charges being remanded for three weeks. It has been previously unheard of for people on civil disobedience charges to be jailed, or required to await sentencing on remand (in lock up or prison) in Australia – though unfortunately it is commonplace for minor crime for Aboriginal people.
We recently met with a growing coalition of groups monitoring and challenging the raft of anti protest laws across the country – its hard to even keep track of them, but we will keep you all informed when we have access to a review of the latest raft of legislation nation wide. We are hopeful that the first person charged under the “dangerous devices” laws in Queensland will be able to push back against these Joh era punishments – with Labor sadly capitulating to the coal miners once again.
An article we wrote just six months ago seems quaintly out of date with numerous legislative changes since then, and significant violence being meted out to climate activists across the country – unlawful strip searches in Brisbane and Perth, pain compliance during Extinction Rebellion arrests in Sydney, and the brutality on display at the IMARC protests in Melbourne – to add to the ongoing violence experienced by First Nations activists with two people gunned down in recent months.
We are working on updating our range of info sheets for EIGHT different jurisdictions and have a couple of new resources out – with huge thanks to our friendly lawyer support, Sophie Trevitt, who is our new favourite person. You too, could be our new favourite lawyer! So we are excited there are new resources for NORTHERN TERRITORY – as fracking resistance heats up, and a draft for NEW SOUTH WALES, with ACT and more to come. You can find them here.
You can register to be part of our CLIMATE JUSTICE LEGAL NETWORK, and find out more about the type of support we need, and may also want to join this growing facebook group of lawyers mobilising for climate justice.