The Tasmanian Government’s Workplace Protection legislation has passed the Tasmanian Parliament despite being opposed by the Labor Opposition. Under the new Police Offences Amendment (Workplace Protection) laws, protesters can now be slapped with harsher fines or longer jail terms for action that obstructs streets or causes a nuisance to workplaces, where penalties would be more severe if a person is convicted of trespassing. Source: Timberbiz
Corporate entities are also be included and could pay penalties of more than $100,000.
Tasmanian Forest Products Association CEO Nick Steele congratulated State Development Minister Guy Barnett on his work in updating the laws and passing important amendments to the Act.
“These strengthened laws keep pace with the changing protest environment and will assist to combat the era of the professional protestor,” Mr Steele said.
Mr Barnett said intimidating, threatening and endangering employees would never be acceptable.
“We have amended the Police Offences Act to ensure that our police are able to better protect workers and businesses through strengthening trespass and obstruction laws,” he said.
“The Tasmanian Government respects the right to protest and every Tasmanian’s right to free speech, but it is also important this is not at the expense of the right to lawfully work or run a business.
“The biggest question is for Tasmanian Labor, and why it has abandoned Tasmanian workers and business and voted against this legislation, especially when similar legislation has been supported by Labor federally and in other states,” Mr Barnett said.
“Since 2014, Labor has stood with the Greens and the radical Bob Brown Foundation’s workplace invaders instead of supporting the workers of Tasmania. And it is little surprise that the federal Labor executive has now taken control of the party.
“This legislation will support our productive industries and businesses working in sectors like forestry, mining, agriculture and aquaculture. I want to thank the many business and representative groups who have helped to deliver this important reform,” he said.
Mr Barnett said the Government would always back workers and local businesses.
“We will continue to monitor very closely interferences with businesses and workers and whether more needs to be done in the future to provide a deterrent from unlawful and unsafe protest activity.”
Mr Steele said that no one was opposed to people’s rights to protest peacefully.
“However, the message today, to our industry workers and others, is that your value to society, your right to work and your mental health is just as important as the next person,” he said.
“Freedoms of expression and freedom of assembly does not extend to unlawful and unwelcome attacks on individuals in their place of work.
“Placing workers safety and mental health at risk whilst impinging on their rights and freedoms is simply not good enough and the message today is, it must stop.
“Despite our differences of opinion, we should all be able to respect the rights of each other and behave in a manner that is acceptable in a modern and democratic society,” Mr Steele said.
