Guilty protester a public servant
A GOLD Coast animal rights protester who chained herself to an abattoir and pleaded guilty to trespassing says she is thankful she escaped conviction because she needs her government job to fund her activism.
Angela Banovic, who is listed on the business and professional network LinkedIn as a Queensland Government employee in the Department of Public Works, yesterday thanked her supporters in an online video.
In Warwick Magistrates Court on Wednesday she was fined $500 and ordered to pay $180 in restitution to Carey Bros abattoir at Yangan near Warwick on the Darling Downs, where she had chained herself to machinery during a protest raid on April 8.
A conviction was not recorded.
It was also revealed in court that she was a State Government employee.
In a comment online, Banovic told a supporter that no conviction would allow her retain her current job, with the pay funding her activism.
“I hate having to give them $180 but at the end of the day I don’t have a charge against my name and I can travel to Coffs for ETT and to Iceland and Faroes to fight for more animals. I need to be able to travel and I also need to have no convictions for my employment that pays for my activism,” she said on her public Facebook profile.
In a Facebook live video made outside the Warwick courthouse, the 37-year-old told followers she was grateful for their support and had represented herself.
In the stream she read out her full statement made in court, which included a request to keep her record clean and her deep passion for the rights of animals.
“I have dedicated and sacrificed so much of my life advocating and fighting for animal welfare,” she said. “I have never been charged with any offences, have been a lawabiding citizen my whole life and always sought police approval prior to any protest.
“I feel I acted as I did in sheer frustration, desperation.
“If I am charged and this goes on my record it would have immediate significant impact against my employment. I worked very hard in my career to get to the level I am at.’’
She said she took annual and unpaid leave when she participated in animal rights protests.
The activist said she was sorry a number of times in her online video for breaking the law.
“I don’t intentionally break the law and I don’t promote it, I am not sorry I stood up for animals,” she said
Banovic’s employer, the State Government, last month said it would “crack down on animal rights zealots”.
The Opposition yesterday demanded the Palaszczuk Government explain what action it will take on public servants caught breaking the law.
“It’s disturbing that an executive officer in the Palaszczuk Labor Government has taken part in an illegal protest,” LNP natural resources spokesman Dale Last said.
A Housing and Public Works spokesman said the department would not comment on current or past employees.
The Bulletin last month revealed Ms Banovic had been fined $783 for her involvment in similar protests at Sea World in December.
PEOPLE have a right to protest. That’s the wonderful thing about our democracy.
But they do not have the right to break the law. So when they are charged and dealt with by the courts, they can expect to cop a penalty.
But does that then give them the right to crow about dodging having a conviction recorded against their name, as happened this week after vegan and animal rights activist Angela Banovic pleaded guilty in the Warwick Magistrates Court to trespass? She was fined $500 and ordered to pay $180 in restitution to the small abattoir that she and her mates invaded last month.
That protest came at a cost – to the meatworks and staff, who suffered financially while the business was shut down temporarily. The court ruled Ms Banovic’s share in putting that right was $180.
The Gold Coaster later took to social media to boast that because no conviction was recorded against her name, she could keep her job and, through the pay she receives, continue to travel and protest. But it has emerged that Ms Banovic is employed by the State Government – the very government that has made a song and dance about stopping those who want to use harassing, disruptive tactics to shut down an entire $25 billion industry.
How that sits with the Palaszczuk Government is a matter for the minister whose department has Ms Banovic on its payroll. But for taxpayers and the huge majority of Queenslanders who are fed up with the foot-stamping tantrums of small interest groups that want to impose ridiculous ideologies on the rest, this woman who sees herself as a protest warrior is revealed as a pest on the public payroll.
She was part of a protest that disrupted Sea World shows during the ChristmasNew Year holidays, ruining entertainment for families who had spent hard-earned cash to attend. The irony in that instance was the theme park targeted by protesters had done significantly more to protect and save marine animal life than any number of professional whingers.
There are many ways to protect animal life and the environment. Groups that make a real difference deserve to be lauded, so instead of just dwelling on elements who seem more intent on self promotion, today we also highlight the positive contribution of the Tackle Bin Project, overseen by the Gold Coast Marine Debris Network.
The amount of discarded fishing line (58km), hooks, sinkers and bait bags collected since the project was launched in 2017 is staggering. It demonstrates that given a chance, anglers will do the right thing with their waste, instead of leaving it in the waterways.