Home Affairs Minister and former Queensland Police officer Peter Dutton has once again called for increased penalties to be levelled against the climate protestors who’ve blocked city streets this week, saying they should be charged for the cost of police intervention.
Speaking on The Today Show, Dutton echoed his earlier sentiments about the Extinction Rebellion movement and its disruptive actions across the country, which included calls for police to actually sue demonstrators.
“I think very strongly that we should be charging these people the cost of the police response,” Dutton said, implying the ability for police to detain and criminally charge protestors is simply not enough.
After white-knuckling his way through an acknowledgement of Australia’s right to peacefully protest, Dutton said he thinks “there should be a price to pay” for “diverting valuable police resources.”
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Dutton’s comments on Today mark his latest backlash against the climate protestors, who have staged demonstrations for five days in a row to urge the Australian government to enforce a more dramatic reduction of its carbon emissions.
Of course, Dutton is the same guy who once joked about rising sea levels eradicating Pacific Island nations.
Coincidentally, the Marshall Islands declared a national climate crisis overnight, with President Hilda Heine saying the low-lying coral atoll nation faces the “grave consequences” of international inaction.
Our parliament has officially declared a national climate crisis. As one of only four low-lying coral atoll nations in the world, the failure of the international community to adequately respond to the global climate crisis of its own making holds particularly grave consequences. pic.twitter.com/S9rPPbxw38
— Dr. Hilda C. Heine (@Senator_Heine) October 10, 2019
Dutton has not yet commented on whether the carbon-belching international community should be charged for the damage done to vulnerable nations like the Marshall Islands, but maybe that’s coming on his next Today appearance.
