Violet Coco: NSW minister voted for laws used to jail his niece for 15 months over climate protest

Alister Henskens defends his role in passing legislation, saying nobody is above the law'

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A climate activist sentenced to 15 months in jail for a protest on the Sydney Harbour Bridge is the niece of a senior minister in the New South Wales Coalition government.

Deanna Violet" Coco, who faces a minimum eight months in prison over the April protest in which the now 32-year-old parked a truck and stood holding a lit flare on the bridge, is the niece of Alister Henskens, the minister for skills and training and a factional ally of the premier, Dominic Perrottet.

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