Push for national protest protection laws

The Greens will push for new federal protections for the right to protest which would override existing state laws. 

After crackdowns on climate protesters, the minor party will look to enshrine the right to protest in federal law.

Greens senator David Shoebridge said the proposal was supported by constitutional legal advice and the laws would be drafted early next year in consultation with experts, activists and representatives from the environment and justice movements. 

"Protesters shouldn't be met with repression, with police violence or with long prison sentences," he said.

"The right to non-violent protest is essential in any free society but we see politicians across the country increasingly using their positions of power to crack down on protests that threaten the fossil fuel and logging industries."

Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia have laws aimed at deterring environmental protesters.

In NSW, Deanna "Violet" Maree Coco was handed a 15-month sentence this month for her role in a protest that disrupted morning peak-hour traffic in April.

The 32-year-old was part of a two-car convoy that obstructed traffic on one lane of the Sydney Harbour Bridge to raise awareness of climate change.

She was sentenced to a non-parole period of eight months for breaching traffic laws by blocking traffic, possessing a flare in a public place and resisting police orders.

The sentence was criticised by human rights observers and Coco was later released on bail pending an appeal.

Senator Shoebridge said the "unfair" state and territory laws were mostly used against young people and First Nations communities. 

"Young protesters standing up for the right to a liveable planet are being hit with criminal penalties while the owners of corporations that pollute water, destroy land and damage sacred sites face no sanction," he said.

"I've been arrested under these unfair protest laws and I saw the system close up.

"It's nothing to do with public safety or national security, it is being used by the rich and powerful to try and avoid accountability."