Media release – Bob Brown Foundation, 5 August 2024

Bob Brown appeals after guilty verdict

“My two wonderful forest defender friends and I have been found guilty of breaching Tasmanian laws which expect the public to get out of the way while their forests are destroyed and rare and endangered species such as the critically endangered swift parrot go to extinction,” said Bob Brown.

“I will be appealing — I will appeal to the Australian public for more peaceful forest protests where governments under the impress of big corporations won’t make that stand. It’s up to us in our time to stop that destruction. That’s what we’ve been doing and that’s what we will continue today. Join us,” said Bob Brown.

Forestry Tasmania to be pursued for destruction of Swift Parrot nesting tree

Following today’s judgement on forest defenders the Bob Brown Foundation will seek the criminal prosecution of Forestry Tasmania after the illegal destruction of a swift parrot nesting tree at Snow Hill in northeast Tasmania where he and two others were arrested in 2022.

Brown says that Forestry Tasmania failed to stop the tree’s deliberate destruction as an act of spite after the arrests.

“The chainsaws took out their spite on this magnificent old tree which was innocent and should have been protected by the same officers who had us arrested for defending it. The Tasmania Police arrested three of us but were not called to take action by the forestry officers in charge when the tree was maliciously cut down after our arrests. The officers on site had previously saved the habitat tree from logging because their own rules forbade its destruction.”

“Men took the chainsaws to the tree straight after Dr Lisa Searle had come down from her two-day vigil up in its branches. Swift parrots and ringtail possums had visited the tree. Dr Searle came down at police request and was not arrested. She is currently working with Medecins Sans Frontieres in South Sudan. She was horrified at what happened and has left a full account of the illegal action. I have a video of a conversation with Dr Searle while she was up in the tree that morning,” Brown said.

“As Rockliff government officials turned a blind eye to what happened, we’ll seek to take the matter to the courts ourselves,” Brown said.