Done By Law

40 Years Tent Embassy and Your Rights at Festivals

On 26 January 1974 the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established under an umbrella on the grounds in front of Parliament House. This Survival Day marked the 40th anniversary of the Embassy. A gathering in Canberra celebrated the activists who have fought for the Aboriginal Tent Embassy and its historical and ongoing fight for justice. We talk to Meghan Fitzgerald who attended the Tent Embassy 40th anniversary commemorations about the gathering, the media misrepresentations of the protests and the ongoing struggle for survival and justice.

Summer is music festival and rave season. We discuss issues surrounding the policing of festivals and raves, especially the use of sniffer dogs, drug test and searches by security guards and police and how these tactics risk undermining harm reduction approaches to drug use. Listen in to find out more about your rights at festivals!

Occupy Melbourne: 23 October 2011

On Friday 21 October 2011 the Victorian Police acting on instruction of Melbourne City Council moved to forcefully evict the Occupy Melbourne movement which had been camped in City Square for the previous week. The Occupy Melbounre Legal Support Team have collected statements that officers attacked and assaulted protesters and arrested over 80 people, the majority without charge. We talk to members of the Occupy Melbourne Legal Support Team about the reports of police violence and brutality as well as legal questions concerning whether it was lawful to evict people from public land, the powers and authorities of Melbourne City Council enforcement officers and legal questions surrounding the confiscation and destruction of camp property by Melbourne City Council.

Watershed protesters take government to court: 9 November 2010

The political and legal furore over the Wonthaggi desalination plant keeps heating up: a new legal action has been launched by protesters regarding the Victoria Police’s agreement to share law enforcement data with the private company building the plant. Tonight we discuss the issues with Christopher Heislers, from protest group Watershed and Elizabeth McKinnon, from the Environment Defenders Office.

A Stifling Climate: Democracy, Coal Protest Laws and the Climate Movement

A forum was held on Thursday 5 August about two new offences created by the Victorian parliament late last year specifically aimed at deterring protest activity at coal-fired power stations. Panel members discuss the legal and civil liberties implications of the laws as well as the ways to understand and respond to this narrowing of the space for political participation.

In the pod cast, the context of the new laws is explained, Felicity Milner, Principle Solicitor at the Environmental Defenders Office provides a legal briefing on the two new sections and Brian Walters SC argues the laws breach key civil and political rights. Unfortunately due to technical problems the presentations given by Ellen Roberts on the role of direct action in the climate movement was not recorded.