CHRIS MINNS: Look, I just want to reiterate this afternoon Labor’s complete support for this legislation. It’s important legislation for the safety and security of the state of New South Wales. The idea that you would through guerrilla activities disrupt millions of people as they go to and from work in the aid of a climate change protest is completely antithetical to everything that the environmental movement and the climate change movement have been working towards, over the last decade. I think the Greens’ position on this is completely wrong. They are simply not interested in building consensus or new recruits to the environmental movement. It’s their way or the highway. And the idea that you think that the idea of building consensus in relation to environmental change, or climate change is to disrupt up to a million people, and if they don’t like it, then they can go and jump, is ridiculous, particularly when you consider we’re on the edge of a federal election being called where climate change will be one of the major issues under discussion. I asked those who are opposed to this legislation to think about someone who’s pregnant, a woman who’s pregnant, that needs to urgently get to a public hospital to have that birth. I think about – I asked them to think about somebody who’s had a car accident, potentially in the airport tunnel, who needs desperate emergency assistance from the ambulance, or the fire brigade, and can’t get access to it, or even a contract driver, who can only get paid if they actually turn up to work, or a casual worker that works in the city that doesn’t get a cent in relation to their work. If there’s major disruptions in the city. Three days in a row, Sydney was ground to a standstill as a result of these guerrilla protests at the expense of millions of people completely undermining any form or type of environmental or climate change message that we’re trying to build in the community. Enough is enough, the legislation needs to go through. Labor supports it. We are advocating on behalf of it. We think it’s important for the city. I think the NSW Government should throw their their shoulder behind this legislation. At the end of the day, the Attorney General will get bowled over in a stiff breeze, he has to make the case for this as well. And I think in the process shoot down some of the outrageous claims being made by Greens MPs in their opposition to this legislation, much of which isn’t covered by the bill at all, and won’t be affected in terms of someone’s democratic right to protest in New South Wales.

JOURNALIST: You have though Chris facing opposition from some of your own backbenchers who are concerned the impact on non-industrial disputes and so forth.  Have you basically just told them to quieten down?

MINNS: No, I mean, I think, in concert with the NSW Government, we’ve been managed, we have managed to make sure that there are carve outs in relation to industrial disputes. The reason for that is that the NSW Government said from the very beginning, that the purpose of this legislation is not to cover industrial disputation, we wanted that to make sure – we wanted to make sure that that was the letter of the law, in relation to the second reading speech and amendments in the upper house. By and large, they’ve accepted our amendments, as it pertains to industrial disputes. And we’re happy about that, that’s been protected. But this isn’t in relation to industrial disputes, or planned protests, or the right of democratic people in New South Wales to peacefully protest. These are guerrilla activities designed to disrupt millions of people from going about their daily work and something needs to be done about it. I’m glad that this legislation is passing.

JOURNALIST: The Greens have an amendment to exempt climate change protesters. How do you respond to that amendment?

MINNS: Yeah, I mean, obviously, that’s a cynical attempt to move an amendment to completely gut the intention of the bill. They also have an amendment in relation to First Nations. I mean, the problem we have in relation to that is that these renegade guerrilla protesters will come just rebrand their protest, as in fact, pertaining to something else not in relation to climate change, and be back at it tomorrow and Tom Uglys bridge, or the Spit Bridge or the Anzac bridge or the Harbour Bridge or Port Botany. We need to make sure that this kind of behaviour which is in effect, dangerous, not just disruptive, but dangerous to millions of people that live in Sydney is against the law in the state. Now, that doesn’t mean that it will affect peaceful protests. I know that the member for Newtown who doesn’t support the legislation, but also doesn’t have constituents that are widely affected by the complete disruption of major arterial roads into the CBD said that this bill would stop or prevent people taking or addressing action on climate change. That’s not true. She said that it would stop protests in relation to nurse to patient ratios or nurse protests in relation to pay. That’s not true. She said that it would stop the march for justice for women in their efforts to end sexual violence. Again, that’s not true. We’ve had those protests in Sydney or Newcastle over the last two weeks, each of them sought and were granted exemptions to protest by the NSW Police, including students for action on climate change, who got an exemption to hold a lawful protest outside the Prime Minister’s house. So there needs to be some balance here. The debate needs to be based on facts and you can’t just willy nilly throw misinformation across the table and expect it to be swallowed by the millions of people that live in New South Wales.

Look, toll roads have taken over Sydney, we’re the most tolled city on the face of the earth, we’ve got a situation where tolls will increase above four per cent each year, every year for the next 20 years if inflation is higher than that. So think about this situation. We’re now in a situation where if inflation is greater than four per cent, then tolls rise higher than that. Toll companies can’t lose and motorists can’t win. We are now in a situation where tolls are eating the back pockets and the bank balances of the families of Sydney. Sydney is the most tolled city on the face of the earth. And we have a 100 per cent privately owned toll road monopoly that’s eating into the back pockets of the families of this state. It is a secret tax on the families of Western Sydney and everyone I speak to is sick to death of paying tolls. They’ve got every right to be angry because they’re about to go up yet again.