Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

A few years ago, former prime minister Scott Morrison responded to police violence towards peaceful protesters by telling people that they were lucky their protests were not being met with bullets. This year the current Prime Minister watched on as Victoria Police, armed to the teeth, descended upon antiwar demonstrators like an army in combat, shooting civilians with their hands up with rubber bullets, pepper-spraying old and young alike, throwing stun grenades and running people down with police horses.

Peaceful protest is crucial for realising all human rights. Many of us, including First Peoples, owe our human rights more to protests than to the goodwill of politicians. Around the world, from Ukraine to Palestine and the streets of Melbourne, the right to protest is being questioned and challenged. This is a human right that is protected by international law. Instead of questioning whether or not protesters deserve to be violently attacked by police, we should be questioning why it is that police have these weapons in the first place. We should be asking why police forces are becoming increasingly militarised and using weapons on civilians that were previously promoted at the very weapons expos people are protesting against.

This is the military-industrial complex showing its power and influence over our daily lives. From fuelling genocides across the globe to arming police forces, the militarisation of police in this country is accelerating alongside the increased criminalisation of the right to protest. The state is using laws and powers against human rights defenders, those protecting against violence, war, ecocide and genocide. Investing in war and weapons does not keep us safe. It does the opposite. Yet our tax dollars are being used to protect the merchants of death, arms manufacturers and governments, who will use their purchases to commit war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Instead of giving billions of dollars to corporations profiting off war and genocide, we could be directing those funds to health care, education, housing and essential services. Again, I give a shout-out to pro-Palestine protesters who are out there every day, putting their bodies on the line against genocide.