Proposed draconian punishment for Australian anti-coal demonstrators invading power plants

The State of Victoria, Australia, is the worst carbon polluting state in the worst carbon polluting country in the World. Most of Victoria’s electricity comes from the burning of brown coal at huge power stations like Loy Yang and Hazelwood in the eastern Victorian region called Gippsland.

Unfortunately Victoria is ruled by a right wing, pro-coal Labor Government that is busy building superhighways, fossil fuel-burning power stations and a huge desalination plant. The extreme right wing, pro-war, pro-coal Federal Labor Government is spouting climate change rhetoric but has a disgraceful, effectively "do nothing" policy about Australia’s world-leading per capita greenhouse gas pollution.

A combination of the policies of both governments has crippled the wind power industry and forced a major, technologically world-leading solar energy company Solar Systems into receivership for bankruptcy.

Lat year hundreds of protestors demonstrated at the extremely dirty Hazelwood Power Station in the presence of hundreds of police. Many were arrested.

Now the reactionary Victorian Labor Government proposes that anyone who "invades or goes into a critical electricity infrastructure site without authority " will face the equivalent of up to a year in jail and a $14,000 fine. And anyone "interfering with critical electricity infrastructure" will face the equivalent of up to two years jail and a fine of up to $28,000“.

Below is an Open Letter sent to the Hon. Mr John Brumby, Premier of Victoria, re proposed legislation involving draconian punishment of demonstrators invading electricity infrastructure.

The Hon. Mr John Brumby,
Premier, Victoria, Australia,
Department of Premier & Cabinet
1 Treasury Place
Melbourne Victoria 3002
GPO Box 4912 VV.

Dear Mr Brumby,

Open letter re proposed legislation involving draconian punishment of demonstrators invading electricity infrastructure.

I am writing to you about proposed legislation involving draconian punishment of demonstrators impinging upon electricity infrastructure. I am informed in part by the following report from the ABC: “Green groups in Australia guesstimate that about 100 protestors have been arrested so far this year in various actions including locking onto coal conveyor belts into power stations as well as blockading coal mines and ports. Last year about 160 people were arrested in similar actions… In 2007, activists shut down Victoria’s Loy Yang power station for 5 hours … Federal and state energy ministers have formally requested a COAG review of the relevant national laws protecting critical electricity infrastructure….Most protesters have generally escaped serious fines and jail in the past. But now the Victorian Government proposes that anyone who "invades or goes into a critical electricity infrastructure site without authority " will face the equivalent of up to a year in jail and a $14,000 fine. And anyone "interfering with critical electricity infrastructure" will face the equivalent of up to two years jail and a fine of up to $28,000“ (ABC News, Lateline’s Margot O’Neill, “Countdown to Copenhagen”, 27 October 2009: http://blogs.abc.net.au/events/2009... ) .

There are already laws about trespass and wise judicial discretion is applied to punishment of trespass, but these present proposals, in addition to involving draconian, disproportionate and human rights-threatening penalties, may also subvert proper functioning of the legal system in the interests of people, many of them not citizens of Australia, who are involved in the gross, Government-subsidized pollution of the common atmosphere of Humanity and the deaths of an estimated 5,000 Australians every year (0.3 million people annually world-wide) from coal burning–derived pollutants (for estimates see Yarra Valley Climate Action Group, “How many people die from Carbon Burning and Climate Change each year?”: http://sites.google.com/site/yarrav... ).

World-leading bioethicist, Professor Peter Singer (Princeton University and the University of Melbourne) has put the fundamental ethical position quite clearly: “We are responsible not only for what we do but also for what we could have prevented… We should consider the consequences both of what we do and what we decide not to do” (Peter Singer in “Writings on an Ethical Life, Ecco Press, New York, 2000, pp xv-xvi).

“Annual per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution” in units of “tonnes CO2-equivalent per person per year” is 0.9 (Bangladesh), 0.9 (Pakistan), 2.2 (India), less than 3 (many African and Island countries), 3.2 (the Developing World), 5.5 (China), 6.7 (the World), 11 (Europe), 16 (the Developed World), 27 (the US) and 30 (Australia; or 54 if Australia’s huge Exported CO2 pollution is included).

Top UK climate scientists Professors James Lovelock FRS (Gaia hypothesis) and Professor Kevin Anderson ( Director, Tyndall Centre, UK) estimated that fewer than 1 billion people will survive this century due to unaddressed, man-made global warming – noting that the world population is expected to reach 9.5 billion by 2050, these estimates translate to a Climate Genocide involving deaths of 10 billion people this century, this including 6 billion under-5 year old infants, 3 billion Muslims in a terminal Muslim Holocaust, 2 billion Indians, 1.3 billion non-Arab Africans, 0.5 billion Bengalis, 0.3 billion Pakistanis and 0.3 billion Bangladeshis.

In 2003, 16 million people (about 9.5 million of them under-5 year old infants) died annually due to deprivation and deprivation-exacerbated disease, this being impacted by global warming. In 2009, 22 million died avoidably annually – but 10 billion avoidable deaths this century due to global warming would yield an average annual avoidable death rate of 100 million per year. (see Yarra Valley Climate Action Group, “Climate Crisis Facts & Required Actions”: http://sites.google.com/site/yarrav... ).

The proposed laws disproportionately punish non-violent humanitarians obligatorily protesting the actual massive destruction of fellow Australians (an estimated 5,000 annually) and the increasingly likely predicted catastrophic mass destruction of most human beings (10 billion this century) as well as most of the Biosphere for the personal profit of Government-subsidized coal exporters, coal burners and other greenhouse gas (GHG) polluters.

In 2009 members of the Yarra Valley Climate Action Group, of which I am Secretary (it is one of Australia’s most active climate action groups with over 28,000 “hits” from a Google search for the phrase), distributed thousands of leaflets in the both Higgins and Jaga Jaga Federal electorates protesting the betrayal of our children, grandchildren and the Planet by Australian climate change inaction.

Former Labor voters comprise a substantial proportion of the members of the politically non-affiliated Yarra Valley Climate Action Group. Yet currently, in relation to key, expert-advocated climate change policies of (1) No ETS; (2) Direct Action on renewables and like measures ASAP; and (3) Carbon Pollution Pricing (revenue-neutral Carbon Tax, Carbon Cost Recovery), the Australian Greens score 3/3; the Coalition Opposition scores 2/3; and the pro-coal Australian Labor Government scores 0/3.

The recommendations of this letter are my personal views but reflect the overwhelming views of members of the Yarra Valley Climate Action Group - and no doubt of the several hundred Climate Action Groups around Australia - in urging the Victorian State Government not to proceed with its draconian electricity infrastructure legislation and for the Australian Labor Party, both State and Federally, to radically change course from its numerous greenhouse gas pollution-promoting and pro-coal policies that fly in the face of overwhelming national and international scientific advice.

I and my associates are very willing to meet with you and indeed to make detailed power-point presentations to you and to all your Parliamentary colleagues (as we presently do to community groups) about the climate emergency facing Australia and the World and the actions required to meet the climate change crisis.

Yours sincerely,
Dr Gideon Polya (Convenor, 300.org: http://sites.google.com/site/300org... ; Secretary, Yarra Valley Climate Action Group), Macleod, Victoria 3085, Australia
28 January 2010
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