Peaceful Or Agressive? Bob Brown On What Effective Protests Look Like

This week a Labor MP’s office was vandalised in Victoria during a protest against the party’s inaction on the war in Gaza, sparking outrage from members of government.

Pro-Palestine protesters sprayed the words ‘zionism is fascism’ on the office window of Jewish federal Labor MP Josh Burns. Protesters also smashed windows and lit fires outside the office.  

Current and former members of government say aggressive protest action is taking things too far.

Former Greens leader and environmentalist Bob Brown joins The Briefing to unpack what an effective protest looks like:

Seventy-nine-year-old Bob Brown has spent a lifetime protesting, both as a former Greens leader and as an environmentalist.

“I think it is legitimate to hold peaceful protest at MP’s offices, but not violent protest and that’s crossed the line,” Brown said.

Brown helped save the Franklin River in the 1970s. He was even arrested this year in Tasmania’s Styx Valley during an anti-logging protest. 

“In a peace-loving democracy, that means being able to protest peacefully. But it doesn’t mean being able to inherently threaten people’s lives and limbs.”

“We have got to have more civilization, not less of it.”

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