Last 25 October I wrote of a southern Tasmanian forest protest by the group Still Wild Still Threatened [SWST]. Further to the same protest, last 7 November I wrote of Thoreau, Gandhi, King, and the sanctity of civil disobedience and non-violent direct action. Last 16 December, in response to the Rudd government’s pathetic 5% greenhouse gas reduction target, 15 SWST activists shut down Gunns’ Triabunna woodchip mill for over seven hours to highlight the link between old growth forest logging and climate change. The seven activists who attached themselves to a conveyor and other machinery were arrested and charged with trespass. The next day, Tasmanian government minister Llewellyn pathetically labelled the activists ‘terrorists’. The activists called on the minister for an apology which they never received. Now Gunns, that pathetic specimen of corporate thuggery, has sued 13 of the 15 SWST activists for damages (I don’t know what happened to the other two), and sought an injunction to prevent the defendants entering its property again. Tasmania Police, that pathetic specimen of colonial law enforcement, gave to Gunns the names of all the SWST people who took part in the Triabunna action – including, stone the crows, those who were neither charged nor arrested. No question this breaches the privacy, and infringes the rights, of citizens. Welcome to Tasmania, people. Stay tuned – this story ain’t finished yet.
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