Australian activists superglue themselves to railings during protest in Parliament House
The protesters said offshore detention of asylum-seekers represented a “state of emergency”
Protesters demanding the closure of offshore detention camps for boatpeople disrupted Australia’s parliament on Wednesday with some supergluing their hands to railings in the public gallery.
Speaker Tony Smith suspended question time in what cabinet minister Christopher Pyne said was the most serious intrusion into parliament in 20 years.
The group of around 30 activists began chanting loudly soon after the session began, shouting “close the camps” and “where is your moral compass?”
Some superglued their hands to the public viewing gallery railings as security tried to remove them, with guards using hand sanitiser to help peel them free, television images showed. They were eventually pulled from the chamber, some forcibly.
The protesters, from the Whistle-blowers Activists and Citizens Alliance, said offshore detention represented a “state of emergency”.
“Parliament shutdown by @akaWACA #closethecamps #bringthemhere,” the grassroots alliance said on Twitter.