Forestry fails in legal clamp
SUE NEALES
Chief reporter

February 17, 2007

FORESTRY Tasmania failed yesterday in an unprecendented 11th-hour legal bid to stop a protest march going ahead in the Weld Valley tomorrow.

At 8am yesterday, three of the protest organisers were served with writs from Forestry Tasmania at their Huonville homes.

Forestry Tasmania was seeking an injunction to stop the Huon Valley Environment Centre and six of its members from emailing, texting, handing out pamphlets or posting information on the internet about tomorrow's planned "walk-in" rally into the out-of-bounds Weld Valley.

It would also have prevented the centre from allowing protesters to sleep at its Huonville headquarters or at any of its named office-bearers' homes.

"It was a shock to get that delivered to your doorstep," said HVEC treasurer and spokeswoman Jenny Weber.

"I felt scared and overwhelmed that Forestry Tasmania was prepared to go so far as to engage individuals trying to stop logging in the Weld in court proceedings."

But by 4pm, the drama had all been played out in Hobart's Supreme Court.

In an embarrassing bungle for Forestry Tasmania, the government business was forced to withdraw its application for an immediate injunction.

The backdown came after nearly two hours of legal debate, after Tasmania's Chief Justice Peter Underwood ruled the key evidence on which Forestry Tasmania was basing its injunction claim was inadmissible.

Justice Underwood also ordered Forestry Tasmania to pay all legal costs of the Huon Valley Environment Centre and its co-defendants, estimated to be between $7000 and $10,000.

Hard-core Weld Valley protester and president of the Huon Valley Environment Centre, Adam Burling, said he had no doubt the latest legal action was an attempt by Forestry Tasmania to demonstrate a new hardline approach toward protesters.

"We believe there are enough existing laws, such as the exclusion-zones powers at Forestry Tasmania's fingertips. Why do they need to crackdown even more?" Mr Burling asked.

But Forestry Tasmania said it was forced to take the last-minute legal action after becoming increasingly concerned for the safety of its workers and independent contractors at Weld Valley logging sites.

Local Huon Valley district manager, Steve Davis, said trespassing protesters had become increasingly reckless in their attempts to impede logging, compromising safety at the site and risking injury to workers.

"In simple terms, we have asked the court to tell the Huon Environment Centre to obey the law and to respect the safety of our workers and contractors," Mr Davis said.

Forestry Tasmania was supported in its legal action by the Tasmanian Forest Contractors Association.

Most of the evidence backing its case presented by Forestry Tasmania was obtained from websites associated with recent protest actions in the Weld Valley near Geeveston, which Justice Underwood ruled could not be accepted by the court as fact since the authorship of internet material was uncertain and unprovable.

Justice Underwood also ruled inadmissible parts of the sworn statement made by Mr Davis and presented to the court, stating that he expected protesters tomorrow to lock themselves to logging machinery, to conduct tree-sits and to "otherwise interfere with forest operations".

The judge ruled these were Mr Davis' beliefs and not facts, and as such could not be accepted as evidence by the court.

A triumphant Mr Burling, one of the individuals named in the injunction, described the case's dismissal as a triumph for democracy and free speech.

He said the attempted injunction was part of the new "heavy-handed" tactics being employed by Forestry Tasmania and the Lennon Government in the ongoing dispute about the logging of Tasmania's native forests.

But the senior judge also made it clear that in dismissing the injunction application, he, nor the Supreme Court, was "authorising or sanctioning" protesters tomorrow to make any unlawful entry onto prohibited Weld Valley land.

Forestry Tasmania withdrew not just its injunction application, but an associated longer-term writ based on a conspiracy charge against the named Weld Valley defendants.

"We are disappointed that that our application was not successful, but the court has made it clear that it doesn't sanction illegal entry onto state forest," Mr Davis said.

"We would call on the Huon Environment Centre to call off Sunday's event. It is still illegal."

Mr Burling said the peaceful march into the out-of-bounds Weld Valley tomorrow, organised by the Huon Valley Environment Centre, would now go ahead unimpeded.

He expects more than 100 protesters will "bear witness" to the "outrageous logging of wild ancient forests" now under way in the Weld Valley, with yesterday's court action only serving to promote the march.