Australia’s Scott Morrison pledges to outlaw secondary boycotts if climate change-related
▻https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/11/01/australias-prime-minister-pledges-outlaw-climate-boycotts-arguing-th
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison railed against environmental protesters in a lunchtime speech on Friday, warning of a “new breed of radical activism” that was “apocalyptic in tone” and pledging to outlaw boycott campaigns that he argued could hurt the country’s mining industry.
The remarks were made to an audience at the Queensland Resources Council, an organization that represents peak mining interests in the northeastern Australian state. The proposed limits on protest quickly drew condemnation from human rights groups and activists.
“From ending slavery to stopping apartheid, boycott campaigns have played a critical role in achieving many social advances that we now take for granted,” Hugh de Kretser, executive director of the Human Rights Law Center, said in a statement.
Morrison, an evangelical Christian and a vocal supporter of President Trump, finds himself aligned with the U.S. leader on support for the coal industry. Australia is one of the largest coal producers on earth, with the industry supplying roughly 50,000 jobs but disproportionately responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.
