Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

although I'm sure some in here may not see it the same way! I've been in here for the last hour listening to the debate about the protests that have been occurring in Queensland. Regardless of whether you believe they are breaking the law, or you find them abhorrent or frustrating, if you ignore the underlying causes of those protests then you do so at your own peril.

The bitter frustration that especially younger Australians are feeling towards institutions like this that they feel have completely let them down is manifesting itself in ways that we are seeing—when young Australians feel that they have to glue themselves to a pavement to be heard. It is a sign of desperation, yes. It is a cry for help, yes. But I warn the opposition and Senator Stoker and others who have so easily batted this off as some kind of radical annoyance: this is just the beginning. This is just the beginning of what is coming down the line.

Senator McGrath interjecting—

And for you too, senator. This is just the beginning, because young Australians and young people all around the world are rising up to have their voices heard, whether it's the Extinction Rebellion or a 15-year-old Swedish schoolgirl who has led a revolution, a global revolution, that has got hundreds and thousands, indeed millions, of mostly young people out to protest about their future and to ask us to do our bit for their future. That's what this is. You can argue all you like about whether it's legal or illegal. You can talk all you want about the surface characteristics of these kinds of movements, but you are ignoring the underlying groundswell of frustration that is coming your way. It is just beginning and it is just building.

I remember when I started as a senator in 2012. I was invited to go to the 30th celebration of the Franklin protests. And I remember—

Senator Duniam interjecting—

Yes, that's right, Jonno; I remember. I remember being in the bar with the original protesters and the police and politicians who locked up the protesters and sent them to jail. I saw them all slapping each other on the back, having a beer and just celebrating how bloody good it was that a group of people stood up and fought for that wild river—the area that was then declared World Heritage and voted the world's No.1 whitewater rafting experience. It is a global tourism attraction. And no-one, 30 years later, disagrees that it was the right thing to do. You are on the wrong side of history on that side of the chamber—

Senator McGrath interjecting—

Let me tell you: ignore this groundswell of protest at your own peril.