Daniel McKay Mercury
TASMANIA Police has been accused of illegally providing personal information about protesters to timber giant Gunns Limited. The Civil Libertarian Council says police broke the Personal Information Protection Act by giving Gunns the details. Gunns is suing 13 protesters, seeking damages and an injunction after they brought its Triabunna mill to a standstill last month. Protesters were outraged, saying Gunns would have been unable to sue six members, who were not charged with trespassing, if police had acted lawfully. Gunns say they obtained personal information through Tasmania Police and their own documentation during the protest — going back on a previous statement that information was gained through court documents. Tasmania Police did not respond yesterday, but had previously said it had provided all the details it obtained from protesters to Gunns management at the scene. Read more here
Tasmanian Times: Is this a police state in which the political masters are in lock-step with the Constabulary instead of at arm’s length?. This latest extraordinary revelation follows a series of astonishing political/police actions … from the ( Fury at police terror exercise ) to the immediate branding of protest action as industrial terrorism ( Apologise now, Mr Llewellyn. Be Afraid ) to this latest revelation – the apparently seamless manner in which private details are passed onto a powerful corporation. And don’t forget the Falls experience. How do police officers have the power to pick up mobile phones and flick through the messages in the police-state manner experienced by Tasmanian Times writer Jose Cojonudo ( Falls defined by police intimidation )?
