The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (17:30): I thank honourable members for their contribution. I am disappointed to hear that the government and the opposition have not reflected over the last two years and recognised the error of their ways. This was an opportunity to try to make amends and put things right. Members may recall that I moved to repeal these laws not long after they were first put in place, with a private member's bill that was once again opposed by Labor and the Liberals. This bill does not junk the laws entirely. That is what I would like to do, but I recognised there was not support for that in this chamber.
This bill introduces a positive obligation to protect assemblies. It is a provision that already exists in a number of other jurisdictions—places like Finland and New Zealand—and it is also consistent with the United Nations declaration and 10 principles for the proper management of assemblies. The other thing that my private member's bill would do, under clause 4, is reduce the timeframe for giving notice of assembly from four days to 48 hours, because four days is really quite unrealistic, particularly when one considers the nature of protest and the kind of issues that people may want to raise.
The other issue the bill deals with, which was raised by a number of organisations in response to the Labor Party's original bill, was this issue of who precisely is responsible around a protest if it gets out of control, so there are some provisions in the bill that deal with that. The Hon. Connie Bonaros and the Hon. Tammy Franks have reflected on the circumstances that unfolded last week with respect to the pro-Palestinian protesters. That really demonstrated for me the importance of bringing this bill to a vote at this time. We saw these protesters being charged with obstructing the public space and facing really quite draconian bail conditions that placed huge restrictions on their civil liberties. This really underscores, as other members have observed, the dangerous and chilling effect that these anti-protest laws can have in our state.
This is not surprising to the Greens, not surprising to me. I am sure it is not surprising to the Hon. Connie Bonaros or the Hon. Tammy Franks. All of us raised these concerns back when the Labor Party, aided and abetted by the Liberals, sought to rush these draconian laws through this parliament in less than 24 hours. That was an appalling state of affairs. In fact, the bill passed the lower house so quickly that one would not even have been able to have completed a load of washing. What a sad indictment that is on democracy in our state.
These anti-protest laws stink. They are an outrage and they are an attack on our fundamental human rights here in this state. What this bill is seeking to do is to at least insert some protections around the right to protest in South Australia.
I am very disappointed that once again the two major parties are going to vote together. Like steel and a magnet, they come together on these issues when it comes to restricting the civil and political rights of South Australians. I think many people in our community will be angry and outraged at the decision that the Labor and Liberal parties are taking today.
It is a reminder of why we need such a strong presence in the upper house of crossbench members to hold the Labor and Liberal parties to account and to ensure that they do not exceed their authority in the future. I indicate to members that I will be bringing this bill to a vote so that the position of all members is put on the public record and all members of this place will be required to justify their position to their constituents.