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ABC News
8 hours ago
- ABC News
Why Do We Protest?
JUSTICE STALMAN, PROTESTER: My first involvement in activism, I think I was about 16, and it was around the Adani coal mine in Queensland. Honestly, I was really scared and also disappointed, realising that the people in power, the, the adults, weren't always necessarily going to do what's right and what's right for young people as well. CALE MATTHEWS, REPORTER: Justice has been involved in protests for almost a decade. JUSTICE STALMAN: In the beginning it was a lot of like campaigning. The first group that I was involved with was AYCC, Australian Youth Climate Coalition, and we had a lot of focus on, like, consulting with governments and, and doing campaigns that way. It was just young people trying to be heard and have meaningful conversations. But yeah, it didn't feel like that really led to a lot of change. PROTESTING: People, power! Power, people! Last year she travelled to NSW to join Activism Group Rising Tide, who were attempting to block coal ships from entering the Newcastle port. POLICEMAN: To ensure your safety, you must comply with this direction. Here, she was arrested. JUSTICE STALMAN: It feels like often protesting, I guess the legal ways, the polite ways, is still not seen and or often ignored, and we see little change come from that, but when we move into things that are more disruptive that demand your attention, you can't look away anymore and change does happen. PROTESTER: Show me what democracy looks like! You've probably seen protests pop up in the news a lot lately. NEWS REPORTER: The march on the Harbour Bridge garnered attention all over the world, even in Gaza. I mean, almost 100,000 people marching across the Sydney Harbour Bridge is pretty hard to miss. Data suggests the annual number of protests across the globe tripled from 2006 to 2022 and through the 2020s, that trend has continued. DAVID MEJIA-CANALES, HUMAN RIGHTS LAW CENTRE: Protest has been a really, really important feature of how we've achieved really good things like marriage equality and First Nations land rights, and I know there's still a lot of work to do there, even just the right to vote, the right to vote for women. The right to vote for Aboriginal people. All of these things were not gifts that were given by politicians or parliaments. These were things that were demanded and protested for for a long period of time. David is a senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre. He says protests have a long history, but now they're a lot more visible. DAVID MEJIA-CANALES: Before we had smartphones and the Internet, you had to kind of run into a protest to know that it was happening, whereas now there's a lot of really high profile protests for things like protecting the environment, for ending war, and these things have actually got to a level that people are talking about them just in everyday speech, in schools, in workplaces. David says with increased visibility also comes increased scrutiny. In the last say 20 years, maybe 22 years, we've seen about 30 anti-protest laws being introduced around the country. So they make say for example, blocking a road, a crime and not only do they make blocking a road a crime, and blocking a road is a pretty normal feature of protest, but they attach a really, really high penalty for something like that. In NSW, blocking a road without police permission could get you a jail sentence of two years or a fine of over $20,000. Queensland, NSW, Victoria, Tassie and SA have all made changes to protest laws in the last few years. Increasing their penalties for disruptive protests. PETER MALINAUSKAS, SA PREMIER: Protest is welcome, but it's got to be done in such a way that is conscious of other people's rights within our community. DOMINIC PERROTTET, FORMER NSW PREMIER: We want people to be able to protest, but you should do it in a way that doesn't inconvenience people right across NSW. David says these changes have given more power to police at protests and right now, Australia is the world leader in arrests at climate and environment protests by a long way. DAVID MEJIA-CANALES: The police have a really important job to do, you know, keeping people safe and keeping paths cleared so that people can walk through them. But what we're seeing now is that police are actually taking more of a role in actually deciding whether to allow a protest to happen or not, and that actually gets into a really tricky situation where you're bringing people who might be in a bit of a heated moment into contact with police, and recently we've seen in NSW and Victoria and other places where there's been actual violence towards protesters and to police, and we don't want that. That's not the point of protest, but because the laws are so restrictive, it's actually pushing people to either do things that they might not otherwise do or do things that are a little bit riskier or actually bringing police into contact with people in a way that's probably not desired for police or protesters. South Australian grassroots ecosystem, or SAGE, is a community gathering that happens at the end of every month and it brings together a lot of community and activist groups across the state. Some young people here say changes to the law have made them more apprehensive. VOX: I'm so often hearing people say "I'm really concerned about my job prospects. I don't want to get involved with climate protests. I don't want to risk anything." VOX: People are getting more worried about whether they're actually allowed to protest, whether they're going to is a safe event and stuff because people are worried about these laws. People don't want to get caught up in the law by just expressing their views on the climate. Dr Lucy Bird is a researcher at Flinders University who has been looking into whether a feeling called 'political despair' is causing people to stop protesting. DR. LUCY BIRD: So it's this emotion based on how you're feeling about sort of the status quo and how things are happening socially and politically. So it could be climate change, people, a lot of young people in particular, are feeling despair about the fact that what we're seeing is really unjust, like we should be seeing changes, but we're not. She says about 60% of climate protesters feel political despair, a feeling that nothing is changing. But she also says it's not turning them away. DR. LUCY BIRD: Well, that's what we originally thought it would. We assumed that it would mean that people do step away because you just can't handle it and it's not nice to feel despair. But what we actually found is that even though people were feeling despair, they were continuing to act. People are pretty complex. We feel multiple emotions at once and often people feeling anger and despair at the same time you know. You can have really conflicting ideas about 'nothing's changing. Nothing's working,' but also having this belief that it can change. Emma Thomas is a professor of social psychology in the same lab as Doctor Bird. She says changes to how people can and can't protest can have a couple of outcomes. I think that the legislative changes have had a dampening effect on protests and I think that they've had a dampening effect on collective actions primarily in the context of climate protest. We did a really quite complex computational simulation actually of what happens when you repeatedly repressed protest over long periods of time and what then happens. What happens at a population level and we show that you know you can create really apathetic populations when you repress protest too much, which is very bad for democracy because our democracies are healthy and vibrant. Where we have a political, a politically engaged populous. But you can also radicalise a lot of people. So you can have these two extremes which are very undesirable I think for healthy democracies of a group of people who are disengaged, and a group of people who are radicalised and prepared to use violence because the authorities have signalled that they're not prepared to listen to conventional forms of protest. JUSTICE STALMAN: I feel more apprehensive in some ways of course, I need to think about my future, but at the same time, I think the cost of inaction is so much higher than any fine that you could be given, and ultimately, I don't think that people can be bullied or intimidated out of standing up for what's right. Justice says she still often feels like her voice isn't being heard, but that's not gonna stop her protesting in the future. JUSTICE STALMAN: Protest works. That's why we do it. Protest is why I can vote as a woman. Protest is why we have, you know, working rights. Ultimately, I know that all the rights that I have now I have because people have protested in the past, which is also why I protest because I want people in the future to have rights that I don't have yet now.
News.com.au
12 hours ago
- News.com.au
What does Buddhist cult Guan Yin Citta have to do with the CCP?
A mysterious Buddhist group with ties to a banned religious movement in China is at the centre of Australia's first foreign interference charge against a Chinese national, with top Australian politicians now walking a diplomatic tightrope. Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Tuesday refused to reveal whether she raised the case of a Chinese woman charged with foreign interference by the Australian Federal Police with Beijing officials. The AFP alleges the woman, who is also an Australian permanent resident, was tasked by China's Public Security Bureau to covertly gather information about the Canberra branch of Guan Yin Citta, a Buddhist association. Ms Wong repeatedly ruled out saying whether she or any government minister had raised the case with Beijing officials. 'I think we all are very clear eyed about China and its interests, we've made that clear,' she told the Today show. 'And I'd make this point, we've never said that dialogue eliminates differences. Clearly it doesn't.' Ms Wong also declined to make comments on the case and insisted Australia had 'strong frameworks around foreign interference'. She did not explicitly say whether she trusted China, instead saying 'dialogue and engagement' formed part of diplomatic management with the nation. 'I trust China to do what China thinks is in its interest, and I trust Australia to do what's in our interests,' Ms Wong said. 'I think we all are very clear eyed about China and its interests. We've made that clear. 'The question is, how do we manage that? And dialogue and engagement is part of it. It doesn't eliminate differences, but it does enable us to put our views.' Guan Yin Citta (full name Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door) is a Buddhism affiliated religion founded by Lu Junhong. Mr Junhong was born in China before moving to Australia at a young age and founding Guan Yin Citta. He died in 2021. Bitter Winter reported that Guan Yin Citta was successful in Australia and became a 'global phenomenon, with hundreds of thousands of followers'. Bitter Winter also reported that Mr Junhong was critical of the CCP, and the Chinese government declared his religion 'xie jiao' meaning an outlawed (generally new) religious movement. Bitter Winter is a daily magazine focusing on religious issues and human rights in China. Its parent company is CESNUR, an NPO based out of Italy that opposes the anti-cult movement. A DFAT information report on the People's Republic of China published in December 2024 said the translation of the term xie jiao was debated, 'with scholars pointing to its historic translation as 'heterodox religion''. 'However it has negative connotations when used by the Government of China (akin to 'evil cult') and is unlikely to be used by adherents of new religions themselves. Restrictions against xie Jiao date back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). 'The China Anti-xiejiao Association publishes an unofficial list of xie jiao, which includes 23 movements. 'There is an official list of xie jiao published by the government, which can change quickly, making it difficult to determine at any time whether a particular religious movement is banned.' Attempts by NewsWire to access the current official and unofficial lists of xie jiao to verify Guan Yin Citta's presence were unsuccessful. In Canberra on Saturday, multiple search warrants were executed by Strike Force Operation Autumn Shield after receiving information from ASIO. During the searches, items including electronic devices, were seized and police said they would undergo forensic examination. The women appeared in ACT Magistrates Court on Monday to face one count of reckless foreign interference, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment. Assistant Commissioner Stephen Nutt, of the AFP Counter Terrorism and Special Investigations, addressed the media on Monday afternoon, saying Australia was not immune to foreign interference. 'This is the first time the AFP has charged a person with foreign interference that allegedly involves targeting members of the Australian community,' he said. 'We should not expect that this arrest will prevent further attempts to target our diaspora communities. 'However, it is important to note that one of the best defences for foreign interference is increased community awareness to the threat and the reporting of suspicious activity to the authorities.' ASIO director general Mike Burgess said he was proud of the significant contribution ASIO had made. 'Foreign interference of the kind alleged is an appalling assault on Australian values, freedoms and sovereignty,' he said. 'In this year's annual threat assessment, I called out these types of activities and put perpetrators on notice by stating, 'we are watching, and we have zero tolerance'. 'Anyone who thinks it is acceptable to monitor, intimidate and potentially repatriate members of our diaspora communities should never underestimate our capabilities and resolve.'
News.com.au
13 hours ago
- News.com.au
Chinese interference the new norm for Australia, expert warns
China will only continue ramping up secretive efforts to advance its domestic and international agenda in Australia this century despite the Albanese government's attempts to normalise relations, a leading national security expert says. The assessment comes a day after the Australian Federal Police charged a Chinese national with 'reckless foreign interference' in Canberra. The woman, a permanent resident of Australia, is accused of covertly collecting information about the Canberra branch of a Buddhist association called Guan Yin Citta on behalf of China's Public Security Bureau. The Guan Yin Citta association is banned in China. Chris Taylor of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) told NewsWire it reflects 'the reality of espionage and foreign interference directed against Australia'. 'It's an actual, real thing – it exists,' Mr Taylor said. Pointing to an espionage report released by Australia's domestic intelligence agency, he said there was 'a clear intensification of foreign intelligence interest in Australia'. 'Australia is paying a lot more attention to these issues than it may have in the past, not so much at the governmental level … but at a public level too,' Mr Taylor said. 'The messaging that's gone out from government about espionage, about foreign interference, over the last couple of years means that people in the community are more alive to it as a potential issue.' The other factor is 'the big picture, strategic changes that are occurring'. 'The fact that international politics, international power, is concentrating in the Indo-Pacific, concentrating in East Asia, means that it's no surprise that Australia's moved to the front lines of that contest in a way that we really weren't a couple of decades ago.' As for why Beijing would target a Buddhist group in the Australian capital, Mr Taylor said it was about keeping its diaspora in line abroad. This is not new for China. Analysts have long warned of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence suppressing free speech on university campuses, with students dobbing in fellow students who voice views that rub Beijing up the wrong way. 'For a lot of authoritarian regimes, they have an abiding interest in what they see as their nationals overseas, whether that's students, whether that's members of diaspora communities,' Mr Taylor said. 'So that kind of foreign intelligence activity ends up bounding that objective. 'It's actually not so much how we might imagine classical espionage directed towards the secrets of the Australian state. 'It's directed towards finding out what those communities are doing and trying to influence what those communities are doing, in a kind of focus on the interests of a regime, rather than the interests of a foreign country as such.' '21st century for Australia' Foreign interference was not among the issues Anthony Albanese broached with reporters on his lengthy state visit to China last month. Instead, the Prime Minister opted for less touchy topics, such as cash-splashing Chinese holiday-makers pumping billions into Australia's thirsty tourism sector. His hosts were also eager to spruik the potential gains of deepening economic ties amid global turmoil driven by Donald Trump's tariffs. Xi Jinping talked of 'unswervingly' pursuing deeper Sino-Australian co-operation regardless of 'how the international landscape may evolve' when he met Mr Albanese. The message was in line with Mr Albanese's own words as he met with business leaders and CCP top brass, championing Australia's trade and research offerings in Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu. While he often repeated his mantra of working with Beijing 'where we can' and disagreeing 'where we must', he made clear he saw China as key to Australia's economic future. Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Tuesday was hesitant to say if news of the suspected Chinese agent in Canberra would harm that relationship, but vowed the Albanese government 'will safeguard our democracy'. 'Our democracy is about who we are,' Senator Wong told the ABC. 'And that means we will stand together against any foreign interference. 'We have strong frameworks in place. 'We will not tolerate collectively or as a government, Australians being harassed or surveilled. We will continue to safeguard the democracy.' On relations with Beijing, she said 'dialogue matters'. 'Dialogue is important. Dialogue enables us to manage difference but it doesn't eliminate it,' Senator Wong said. Echoing Australia's chief diplomat, Mr Taylor said it was just a reality that China would spy and meddle in Australia, no matter how 'incongruous' with what Beijing and Canberra say. 'We're being realistic that countries spy on each other, that China and Australia's interests security interests will differ,' he said. 'This is the 21st Century for Australia. 'It's dealing with these incongruities. 'It's dealing with living in a region that has become this increasingly contested space.' He added that 'we shouldn't be we should any less aggrieved, but we should be probably less surprised that people are engaged in espionage against us.'
