I keep piping up about how philosophical inquiry can contribute to deliberative democracy, citizenship education in general, and ecological citizenship in particular. I’ve chosen to focus on these issues, trusting that key aspects of our democracy — such as freedom of speech and association, and the right to protest — are duly protected under Australian law.
But now Violet Coco, the philosopher-activist and non-violent protester previously interviewed on this blog, has been jailed for at least eight months under draconian laws that restrain and intimidate people who dare to speak up — and my assumptions about our democratic rights and freedoms have been profoundly unsettled.
Violet was part of a group of four protesters from the activist group Fireproof Australia who blocked one of the five southbound lanes of the Sydney Harbour Bridge for 25 minutes one morning last April, to draw attention to the climate and ecological emergency. Violet pleaded guilty to obstructing traffic, resisting arrest and setting off an emergency distress signal. On Friday, she was sentenced to 15 months in jail, with a non-parole period of eight months. Extraordinarily for a non-violent offender who has abided by all previous bail conditions, Violet was refused bail while awaiting her appeal.
Adam Morton in The Guardian writes:
You don’t have to believe that [Violet] Coco’s climate protest blocking traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge was a good idea, or helped her cause. But being sent to prison until July and denied bail while she lodges an appeal against the sentence was a bad day for democratic expression in Australia…
In a statement to Guardian Australia on Friday, the NSW attorney general… engaged in doublespeak. He said the government supported the right of all individuals to participate in lawful protest and dissent, but that right must be weighed against ‘the right of ordinary members of the public to move about safely and freely in their day-to-day lives’. Questions raised in the wake of Coco’s sentence — for example, whether shifting the definition of lawful dissent is consistent with Australia’s reputation as a liberal democracy or why a non-violent protester in this country should be able to face a harsher penalty than, say, a child sex offender – were not addressed…
Clément Voule, the UN’s special rapporteur on freedom of association and peaceful assembly, took to Twitter to express alarm at both the prison term and bail refusal, arguing that ‘peaceful protesters should never be criminalised or imprisoned’.
Sophie McNeill, a former ABC foreign correspondent now with Human Rights Watch, said it was evidence climate protesters faced vindictive legal action restricting their right to peaceful assembly and expression. The NSW Council for Civil Liberties described the penalty as outrageous and made what should be a straightforward point – that living in a democracy means allowing people freedom to protest in a way that may inconvenience the public.
A recent article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review argues that protest movements can be more effective than the best charities, and presents historical evidence that protest has the potential to spur social change by shifting public opinion, influencing how issues are framed in public discourse, shaping policy, and affecting voting behaviour.
Violet has released a statement in which she cites climate scientist Professor Will Steffen: “Massive floods, fires and heatwaves are sending us a clear message. On our present trajectory, we risk heading into a collapse of our globalised civilisation and a precipitous drop in human population — put simply, hell on earth. But we can avoid this disastrous future if we change the way we think, live our lives and interact with the rest of the living world.”
Violet writes:
History has shown that at times of great crisis, when regular political procedure has proven incapable of enacting justice, it falls to ordinary people [to take] a stand to bring about change through civil disobedience. Civil disobedience in the form of strikes, blockades, marches and occupations have played a crucial role in the development of democracy, and helped to secure precious rights here and around the world — including women’s suffrage, 8-hour working days, racial legal equality and environmental protections.
Likewise, my philosophical studies have shown me that protesting is an important part of democracy – called direct democracy. Liberal political philosopher John Rawls asserted that a healthy democracy must have room for this kind of action. Especially in the face of such a threat as billions of lives lost and possibly the collapse of our liveable planet…
A majority of Australians want stronger action on climate, yet our elected representatives fail to represent us. Even when there is a landslide election of climate independents, new coal mines are being approved, and the government gives $22,000 [per] minute of our tax to the fossil fuel industry.
I respect the law and do not want to break the law, however community leaders have pointed out that it is time to protest, as all other channels have failed to have this situation taken seriously. Leaders like Greg Mullins, who was the NSW Fire and Rescue Commissioner for 39 years, [who] says, “We need to be noisy, naughty Australians — the government only listens to the squeaky wheel” (The Climate Council, 2021). In the same vein, Christiana Figueres, who was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate, says, “Civil disobedience is not only a moral choice, it is also the most powerful way of shaping world politics… It’s time to participate in non-violent political movements wherever possible.”
Even David Attenborough says, “We can not be radical enough.”
Earlier this year, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres commented: “Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals. But the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels. Investing in new fossil fuels infrastructure is moral and economic madness.”
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Australia’s ailing democracy: a health check
In 2013, political journalist Michelle Grattan remarked that “Australia’s democratic system is like a healthy individual with a bout of the flu. It’s not seriously ill, but somewhat off colour.” Since that time, the health of our democracy has only declined. Each year since 2019, Australia’s civic space has been rated “narrowed” (downgraded from “open” in previous years) by the global civil society alliance CIVICUS. An Advocacy Officer with the alliance, Lyndal Rowlands, notes: “Increasingly we’re seeing a climate of intimidation aimed at discouraging dissent. Australians have always enjoyed a healthy scepticism of unchecked power, yet more recently it seems like the only people getting punished for government wrongdoing in Australia are the people who courageously reveal it.”
A 2020 UN Universal Periodic Review submission raised alarm over the increasing criminalisation of climate and environmental movements and defenders, while CIVICUS highlighted concerns about the restriction of our democratic freedoms in its 2019 Australian Press Release:
CIVICUS is extremely concerned about incursions on free speech, the increasing use of surveillance and crackdown on protesters.
There are serious concerns that the government is trying to muzzle criticism…
Environmental and climate activism in Australia has also come under fire over the past year, even as Australian students have led some of the biggest peaceful climate protests in the world.
Australians have a right to peaceful assembly, association and expression in our democracy – rights that our leaders have a duty to uphold, even if they disagree with the message.
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You can lend your support by donating to help fund Violet’s legal costs and those of other non-violent climate emergency activists, as well as funding efforts to repeal anti-protest laws.
You can also write Violet a letter of solidarity.
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Postscript, 13/12/2022
Violet has been released from prison following an appeal of her previous denial of bail. While the judge who granted bail said it was not for him to decide whether the upcoming appeal against her 15-month sentence might succeed, he stated that her offences were “well within range for consideration” of a sentence served in the community rather than in prison.
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Postcript, 15/03/2023
Violet’s jail sentence has been overturned on appeal. The Guardian reports that she has been issued with a 12-month conditional release order after district court judge Mark Williams heard she had been initially imprisoned on false information provided by the NSW police: “police had included a ‘false fact’ and a ‘false assertion’ in their case against Coco that an ambulance with flashing sirens and lights had been impeded from crossing the bridge to an emergency because of the protest.”
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