Australia: They not only need to be arrested but they need to be forced to wear hardhats until they’re arrested!

It has been suggested that forest protesters in Tasmania should be
made to observe safety measures such as wearing hard hats. Police
yesterday arrested seven protesters who halted operations at Gunns’
Triabunna woodchip mill.

The protesters are alleged to have chained
themselves to machinery. They were charged with trespassing and will
appear in the magistrates court in February. Roy Omerod from Workplace
Standards says it is concerning that protesters often put themselves
and other people in danger. He says new measures are being considered
to help limit those risks such as making protesters wear hard hats and
high visibility vests. “Certainly we’ll be meeting with the
conservation groups around Tasmania,” Mr Ormerod said. “We’re writing
to them at the moment asking them to meet with us in January, early
January to discuss our concerns about the need for them to know their
obligations.” The protest disrupted operations for seven hours.
Contractors say the action was misguided because almost 80 per cent of
Tasmania’s old growth forests can not be logged. They say the
activists have cost them tens of thousands of dollars and achieved
little else. Police say both the protesters and the contractors at the
mill were well behaved.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/17/2448485.htm?section=business

Posted via email from Deane’s posterous