“We have seen this kind of approach to protestors before. It reminds us of darker times, in the history of Queensland with Joh Bjelke-Petersen where the government made it a priority to stop civil disobedience. The police were encouraged to be heavy handed on protestors. Now of course, climate change is the main issue and economic insecurities, inequalities are growing…we see rich guys getting a bonus when they commit fraud, so civil disobedience is growing.”

Piero talks about citizen’s protests and activism, and the government suppression of vegan and climate activism in Australia in the past 12 months. Do we have a right to protest? And why does the government seem to think we don’t?

Piero is a lecturer in Justice Studies at Charles Sturt and holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Stirling (UK), and a MSC in Philosophy and Public Policy from the London School of Economics.

Episode recorded: 13 November 2019

Host: Jess Mansour-Nahra, Charles Sturt Media

Production: Adam Thompson, 2MCE

Due to our many regional locations, Charles Sturt’s podcast recordings range from phone, to studio, to in-person recordings, leading to some natural variance in recording sound.

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