Australia: 7 more forest defenders arrested in Tasmania

Seven activists have been arrested after a protest in a remote forest
near Lake Gordon. A spokesman for Still Wild Still Threatened said ten
activists had brought logging to a halt in the area this morning,
after blocking a gate on an access road used by trucks and workers.
The protesters set up a tree top structure which was connected to the
gate on Clear Hill Road. A Tasmania Police spokesman said a protester
in the tree top structure was still occupying the platform. However,
seven other people were arrested and taken to the Bridgewater Police
Station. It is the second time in a week that protest action by the
Still Wild Still Threatened group has brought logging to a halt. On
Tuesday, seven forest protesters were charged with trespass after a
protest at the Gunns woodchip mill at Triabunna.

In that incident,
fifteen activists arrived in two rental vans at the Triabunna work
site at 4.45am on Tuesday morning, during a day of national protests
over the Rudd Government’s announced target of a 5 per cent emissions
cut by 2020. At least 30 log trucks were backed up along Freestone
Point Rd at one point, with drivers saying the protest had cost them
thousands of dollars. It led to Forest Contractors Association
executive officer Ferdie Kroon saying he would canvas with members the
need for legal action to recoup lost earnings. “We have lost a
significant amount of production and in the current economic climate
it doesn’t help – it is terrible for those affected and the industry,”
Mr Kroon said. “The losses would be between $300,000 and $500,000 when
you look at the trucks, and there were in excess of 40 delayed at the
mill, not to mention the ones that had to be held back at coupes and
those told not to come.”
http://www.examiner.com.au/news/local/news/crime-law-justice/protest-halts-logging-in-remote-southeast-forest/1389692.aspx

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