Environmental activist’s home visited by Queensland police ahead of planned protests in Sydney
Counter-terror police in Queensland have visited the home of an environmental activist following a request from New South Wales ahead of planned protests at a mining conference in Sydney.
The activist is one of about 30 people across four jurisdictions to report visits from police in the past week ahead of the International Mining and Resources Conference, which starts on Wednesday.
NSW police are behind the preemptive visits to protesters in that state, and have also requested officers in Queensland, Victoria and the ACT to attend the houses of activists. Some of those visited by police say they have never been arrested for protesting and are unclear what intelligence was used to justify the visit.
Alister Ferguson was working at his home in the Brisbane suburb of Chapel Hill on Friday when his daughter answered the door to two police officers wearing plain clothes but armed with their normal accoutrements, including semi-automatic handguns.
In a video taken by Ferguson and posted online later that day, one of the officers tells Ferguson he is from the counter-terror command and is there with his colleague at the request of NSW police.
Ferguson tells the officers they have scared his daughter, and that he has no intention of attending the protest.
Ferguson is currently on bail in relation to allegations he participated in protests with Blockade Australia in Sydney earlier this year. One of his bail conditions is that he cannot visit the Sydney CBD, meaning that if he attended the conference he could be remanded in custody.
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Ferguson said that despite a 30-year history of environmental activism it was the first time he had been arrested, and he was subsequently charged with three offences under tough NSW antiprotest laws passed earlier this year.
He questioned why a harsher police approach against protesters – which he described as “fascist” – was being implemented at the exact moment more people felt compelled to protest against global heating.
“That’s our human rights being impinged upon, and it’s pretty serious stuff,” he told Guardian Australia.
“In a way I’m glad it’s happened, because it’s made clear to me how serious things are and what needs to be done.
“Maybe it’s a sign we’re being effective, but it’s also a little scary.”
Queensland police refused to answer a series of questions regarding the visit, including whether counterterror command had responsibility for investigating environmental activists in the state, what the legal basis was for their visit and the sharing of intelligence by NSW police, when the request was made by NSW police, and how many protesters in Queensland they had visited on their behalf.
NSW police and Victoria police also largely refused to answer questions about the action when contacted by Guardian Australia last week.
Imarc will be held until Friday at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, with protests set to be organised by a group known as Blockade Imarc.
The recent police activity comes against a backdrop of two separate legal cases filed since September relating to the policing of protesters: a NSW supreme court challenge against the harsh anti-protest laws, and a class action against Victoria police for the use of capsicum spray against protesters at the last Imarc in 2019.