Bob Brown – a former state and federal politician and Australian Greens leader – roundly criticised both the intention of the bill and the circumstances of its release Monday, saying it should have instead been repealed entirely.

Announcing the draft bill on Monday, Building and Construction Minister Sarah Courtney said the government acknowledged the 2017 High Court decision but “made no apologies” for standing up for the rights of businesses to work without disruption.

In a statement from the Bob Brown Foundation, Mr Brown thought Premier Will Hodgman had "ducked" announcing the new laws himself while the state was having its “most protest-free period in decades".

“There are adequate laws in Tasmania to stop untoward protests but the big resource extraction industries want more than our democracy or public opinion will allow.” 

Speaking to The Examiner Monday afternoon, Mr Brown described the amendments as a “cut and paste exercise” aimed at “removing the teeth” from the original.

“[Mr Hodgman] knows this is an expensive exercise to taxpayers proving nothing, except that his original legislation was unconstitutional,” he said. “It’s redundant.”

“The very fact that this has taken nearly 18 months shows [Mr Hodgman] had the Solicitor-General scratching their head for months to make something look worthwhile when its not.”

Mr Brown was arrested under the laws at a Lapoinya logging site in 2016.

The High Court ruling on his challenge to the Workplaces (Protection from Protesters) Act found it “impermissibly” burdened the implied freedom of political speech within the constitution.

Appearing with Ms Courtney at Monday’s press conference, Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Michael Bailey said the bill was an important “strengthening of legislation” to protect businesses.

“We’ve had people chaining themselves to equipment, people hiding in equipment,” Mr Bailey said. “Situations like that cause not just issues, but also danger for individuals and also workers,” 

Mr Bailey added they were happy to see people protesting things they think are important, but thought affecting a business’ economic viability was unfair to workers the state’s economy.

“We welcome and are looking forward to community consultation rolling out, to hear the different views of people around Tasmania,” he said.

“Fundamentally what we want to see are people’s workplaces protected from this sort of action.”

Ms Courtney said the government had twice taken the policy to elections and received the support of Tasmanians.

“The financial cost to legitimate Tasmanian businesses and their employees over many years due to having their business activities disrupted is very substantial, and we make no apologies for standing up for Tasmanians’ rights to go about their lawful business and earn a living.”

The public consultation period will run until March 3, with 50 stakeholders also taking part.

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