STILL WILD STILL THREATENED
A man and a woman have forceD logging operations to halt this morning when the conservationists chained themselves to logging machinery.
The protester scaled the walls of a locked cage that logging machinery is parked in nightly and attached themselves to harvesting equipment. Police search and rescue have attended the logging coupe daily since operations began on May 4 and are expected to remove the protesters shortly.
Logging operations entered their fourth week as Forestry Tasmania used dynamite to blow up ancient trees deemed to dangerous to cut.
“In just 27 days over 25 ha of this pristine old growth forest has already been liquidated for wood chips. The speed of this operation is unprecedented and highlights the government’s eagerness to get it done quickly as it is clearly unpopular amongst constituents.” Said spokesperson Ed Hill
“The actions today have temporarily stopped logging of trees that were seedlings when Abel Tasman first set foot in Tasmania in 1642. Later today these same trees will be on their way to the wood chip mill and eventually exported to Asia. This is reckless and irresponsible management of Tasmania’s heritage and it is shameful to think that we are continuing down this self destructive path well into the 21st century.” Said Mr.Hill
“Until logging of the Upper Florentine ceases, the community will continue peaceful stop work actions. The community has had enough of the Bartlett government’s spineless approach to this issue.” Mr Hill said
“The Bartlett government has continually ignored opportunities for constructive dialogue with conservation groups to come to a solution to this decades long dispute. Premier Bartlett needs acknowledge that the old growth logging debate is one of the most serious issues for this state. The Premier must show leadership and engage with conservation groups rather than taking the “ignore it and it will go away” approach.” Said Mr Hill.
“The Tasmanian government is making a mockery of the federal government’s commitment to help end logging of rainforest in developing countries, by logging old growth rainforest in their own back yards.”
“Peter Garrett and Kevin Rudd need to step in and stop the senseless destruction of Australian rainforest.” Concluded Mr Hill.
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MEDIA RELEASE 27/5/09 11:00AM
“TWO ARRESTS AS OLD GROWTH LOGGING STOPS”
Two people who chained themselves to logging machinery this morning in the Upper Florentine have been arrested. Logging in the coupe was halted for about 3 hours this morning as conservationists penetrated a security cage that logging machinery is parked in nightly.
The man and the woman chained themselves to harvesting equipment in the early hours of this morning. They have been charged with trespass and will appear in Hobart Magistrates Court at a latter date. Nearly 80 people have been arrested in the Upper Florentine this year.
“Despite the extremely heavy police and security presence in the Upper Florentine
Peaceful protesters will continue to stand up for Tasmania’s ancient forests. Work will continue to be stopped and people will continue to be arrested. Soon we will see the 100th arrest in the Upper Florentine for just this year. There have been dozens of people getting arrested for the first time. People from all walks of life have been getting arrested, from a `17 year old man from Hobart to a 70 year old from Westerway, a town nearby the contentious forest. The large number of arrests in the area proves that there is a huge amount of community outrage over the logging of the Upper Florentine and people are willing to get arrested to make their point.” Said spokesperson Ed Hill.
“Many people who have been arrested are Derwent valley locals who have campaigned for years to protect the Upper Florentine, David Bartlett will not even give those locals ten minutes of his time to listen to their concerns. When the Premier blatantly disregards the concerns of his constituents it is no surprise that they resort to civil disobedience.”
“The heavy Police presence in the forest is draining police force’s resources just so Forestry Tasmania can decimate an ancient forest and Gunns can make a tidy wood chip profit. Protests will continue until this government ends old growth logging, this would solve the problem of an over stretched, under resourced police force.”
“It is irresponsible of David Bartlett to prioritize the protection of wood chip profits and old growth logging over the normal police role of keeping the state safe. If the police are so over stretched as a result of logging in the Upper Florentine all David Bartlett needs to do is stop the logging, the protests will stop and police can go back to doing their jobs.” Said spokesperson Ed Hill
“If the Police Association is concerned about over stretching of resources, they should lobby the government to stop logging the area due to the overwhelming public outcry and protest.”
“Only one person is responsible for over stretching police resources and that his David Bartlett and his instance on wholesale destruction of our world heritage valued forests.” Said Ed Hill.
“This issue is so contentious, The Bartlett government knew very well that there would be large and prolonged protests in the area, if they had concerns over how this would affect police resources, they should have reconsidered logging the area in the first place.”
“David Bartlett is happy to funnel as much tax payer money as it takes into this operation to see that this old growth forest is obliterated forever.” Concluded Ed Hill.
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Still Wild Still Threatened is a grassroots community organisation campaigning for the immediate protection of Tasmania’s ancient forests and the creation of an equitable and environmentally sustainable forestry industry in Tasmania.
www.stillwildstillthreatened.org
[email protected] www.myspace.com/stillwildstillthreatened
PO Box 295. South Hobart TAS 7004
