"The Greens Will Always Support the Right to Protest" (provided it's a protest they like)

Those great freedom fighters, the Greens, were out and about in their matchy-matchy t-shirts last week, demonstrating their support for the right to protest.

NSW Green senator Mehreen Faruqi tweeted:

“The right to peaceful protest is vital to a functioning democracy and crucial in our fight against the climate crisis.”

She added:

“The Greens will always defend the right to protest.”

Mehreen Faruqi @MehreenFaruqi

The right to peaceful protest is vital to a functioning democracy and crucial in our fight against the climate crisis. The Greens will always defend the right to protest ✊🏽

All of which makes THIS kind of awkward …

'

Faruqi tweeted in January …

Make no mistake: the so-called freedom protesters in Canberra and marching across the world this week have clear and documented links to far-right and white nationalist groups. We should not ignore this or normalise their politics.

So the Greens will always defend the right to protest CAUSES THEY AGREE WITH.

But if it’s a cause they don’t like, well you’re a “so-called” protester. And you’re dismissed as “far-right” or “nationalist” … no, sorry, “WHITE nationalist”!

And, of course, if you happen to be a Victorian peacefully protesting vaccine mandates and lockdowns, the police can shoot you in the back with rubber bullets and the freedom loving Greens with their fancy t-shirts and their commitment to “always defend the right to protest” will be nowhere to be seen.

Remember the Greens speaking out about this?

Nor do I.

But cause chaos in Sydney traffic and the Greens will lionise you.

The Greens happy snap in same-same tees was to show their support for climate activist Violet Coco who was sentenced to jail this month for a protesting the use of fossil fuels.

Coco, as she likes to be known, blocked the Sydney Harbor Bridge during peak hour, causing traffic chaos and delaying an ambulance that was on its way to an emergency.

She kept police at bay for around 25 minutes, standing atop her vehicle and firing a flare gun.

It’s not a “peaceful protest” when you shoot a flare gun and block traffic, putting livelihoods - and potentially lives - at risk.

Details, schmetails. If it wasn’t for double standards, the Greens would have no standards at all.

In the Greens topsy turvy world, if you’re standing outside Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance protesting lockdowns, you deserve to be shot.

But if you’re blocking peak hour traffic, obstructing ambulances and firing flare guns in the name of climate catastrophism, you’re a peaceful protestor for whom the Greens will plaster their support all over social media.

It’s not the principle, you see, it’s the ideology that counts.