Environmental protest is woven into Tasmania's identity.
Plenty of protests have shaped the state, and caused waves around the globe — the damming of the Franklin River, the "forest wars" sit-ins, the Gunns' pulp mill proposed for the Tamar Valley.
But environmentalists, unionists and human rights lawyers say laws that just effectively passed the upper house are set to forever alter the face of protest in the state and change its identity.
What exactly are these laws?
Basically, they're changes to the state's Police Offences Act, mainly the offence of trespass.
There are a couple of key tweaks — people who are found to commit any action that obstructs a business face fines of up $8,650 — double what it was before — or a jail term of up to 12 months.
If that offence is found to have caused "a serious risk" to the safety of themselves or someone else, the fine increases to a maximum fine of $12,975, or up to 18 months in jail.
If it's their second time causing that serious risk, the maximum fine swells to $21,625 or up to two-and-a-half years in jail.
The law changes also significantly increase the maximum fines for public nuisance, including the blocking of vehicles or pedestrians on a street — from $519 to $1,730.
Fines for organisations are also set to rise dramatically — a body corporate that obstructs a business will face a fine of up to $103,800.
On Thursday night, a majority of upper house members voted in favour of amendments advanced by the government, which are aimed at preventing vulnerable people — such as those who are homeless — getting caught up in the laws.
Labor tried, unsuccessfully, to amend the laws to exclude workers taking part in industrial action or protests at their own workplaces.
When it sits again in August, the Legislative Council still has to vote on a third reading of the bill and a majority of members are almost certain to pass it.
The amended legislation has to pass the lower house again before it becomes law, but that's basically guaranteed because the government has a majority.
Why has the government done this?
If protesting is part of Tasmania's identity, proposing anti-protest legislation is in the Tasmanian Liberal Party's DNA.
They went to the 2014, 2018 and 2021 elections vowing to protect workers from being threatened, or workplaces from being disrupted.
Here's what Resources Minister Guy Barnett said this week: "We have listened to the needs of workers and business and we have seen the impact of unlawful protests on businesses and their employees.
"It costs money, it creates risk, and it can cause stress for the workers and in some cases, there is potential for physical and mental harm."
They had trouble passing the legislation before, what changed this time?
This was the third time the Legislative Council had voted on anti-protest legislation.
Laws passed in 2014 with plenty of fireworks — then-Greens leader Kim Booth accused the government of fascism and likened the legislation to that of the Nazis.
But it turned out the law experts who said the legislation might not stand up in court were right, and the laws were found to be unconstitutional by the High Court in 2017.
After vowing to re-introduce similar laws during the 2018 election campaign, the Liberal Party waited quite a while before bringing its second lot of legislation before the state's upper house.
Those laws were blocked by Labor and independent MPs last year.
In terms of what's different — this time the government made changes to the Police Offences Act instead of creating an entirely new set of laws, and it agreed to some amendments to reduce the chance of vulnerable people being unintentionally affected by the laws.
What do opponents say?
There are lots of groups arguing against the laws, including human rights organisations, civil society groups and unionists.
They say the legislation is overly harsh and the penalties are disproportionate, arguing the state's existing trespass laws are already sufficient.
There are concerns it's undemocratic, with Tasmanian Council of Social Services chief executive Adrienne Picone saying she's worried the bill will discourage Tasmanians from speaking out about injustices in their community.
But there's support for the legislation too.
The Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is in favour, while the Tasmanian Minerals, Manufacturing and Energy Council's Ray Mostogl supports the right to peaceful protest but said the tactics of some activists — putting phones in their faces, baiting workers — go way beyond the line.
He told ABC Radio Hobart this week that protesters were stopping workers from doing their jobs, and the laws would restore the right balance.
Will these laws be thrown out by the High Court too?
That's the million-dollar question. But law experts say there are real concerns about the validity of this legislation, so it's virtually guaranteed there will be another legal challenge, probably soon after the laws are passed.
Keep an eye out for former national Greens leader Bob Brown — whose arrest in a Lapoinya forestry coupe sparked the undoing of the first lot of legislation — to be charged, and potentially mount another appeal.
