Australia: Lawsuit wants to charge protesters for work stoppage
In the US we call them Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation
(SLAPP). In the US, as well as Australia, they are most often cast aside by
judges as frivolous. In less developed countries they are usually
known as assassinations, or beat downs. In all countries they are
about the protagonist attacking the advocate. In this particular
incident the industry has promised any money won to be given to the
timber workers who lost work because of the protest:
Ironic how often the timber industry promises lost
jobs / wages to workers who never really get what their promised.
http://forestpolicyresearch.com
Gunns Limited is serving a writ on 13 forest defenders claiming
damages resulting from an action conducted at the Triabunna woodchip
mill last month. Activists halted work at the mill to draw attention
to the impact of old growth logging on climate change.
Gunns Limited
is claiming damages for trespass, and seeking an injunction that will
prevent the defendants from entering its property. “The action taken
at Triabunna was legitimate peaceful protest, taken in defense of
Tasmania’s carbon dense old growth forest. The Tasmanian people will
not stand by and allow the destruction of ancient forest to continue
just because Gunns has decided to throw its weight around,” Still Wild
Still Threatened spokesperson Ula Majewski said. “Vast tracts of our
precious old growth and high conservation value forests continue to be
logged, woodchipped and exported by Gunns Limited” said Ula Majewski.
“This is a move that smacks of desperation. Gunns is aware of the
growing frustration and anger within the community resulting from its
destructive logging operations. Actions such as this will do nothing
to stem the rising tide of community outrage over the ongoing
destruction of Tasmania’s remaining wild places,” said Huon Valley
Environment Centre spokesperson Warrick Jordan. “Gunns Limited’s
destructive business model is tearing the heart out of the last
remaining areas of ancient forest in Southern Tasmania. Iconic valleys
such as the Weld and Upper Florentine are being destroyed as we speak
in order to line the pockets of Gunns Limited, ” said Warrick Jordan.
http://www.huon.org/mediareleases/media070109.html
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