Mass gathering and chained protestors halt Mumbulla logging
Cyndi Powell in the Narooma news covers the actions against logging in the Mumbulla State Forest, including the arrest of local protesters, the protests of Greens and locals from across the country, and the response of Liberal MP Andrew Constance.
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FOLLOWING a weekend of mass protests conversationalists once again put a stop to the logging that threatens koalas in the Mumbulla State Forest.
Three protesters chained and locked themselves to logging equipment early on Monday morning.
Leading the protesters was BVSC Greens Councillor Keith Hughes who immobilised a giant tree feller bought in by Forests NSW to accelerate the woodchip logging. Cr Hughes locked himself onto a log loader and prevented logging operations from continuing for the day.
Another protestor, Jane Salmon, a Sydney-based and mother of two, was locked onto a snigger. The number of protestors at the Mumbulla blockade has swelled by Sydney supporters.
"This is a determined effort by the community. This is the 49th day of our protest at this barbarous operation and we are not going away," said Cr Hughes.
The protesters were left rather hungry and thirsty after police took away their food and water. The three protesters were arrested in the afternoon.
Harriett Swift from CHIPSTOP was down at Bega Police Station to bail out Cr Hughes when she told ABC Radio Statewide: "We are certainly not going to give up. We cannot take the risk with the future of these animals. There are only 30 to 50 koalas remaining in the area and we cannot afford to lose a single one of them."
The protesters have issued a joint declaration that the woodchip operations are illegal and in breach of numerous regulations that Forests NSW and its contractors are required to meet.
Meanwhile, traditional owner Louis Campbell was arrested at the woodchip site on the lower slopes of Mumbulla Mountain, sacred to local aboriginal people.
Mr Campbell is understood to have been protesting that the woodchip operations were not only destroying critical koala habitat but were also disturbing a sacred burial site.
Mr Campbell is a close relative of the late and highly respected Gubbo Ted Thomas who campaigned for many decades for the protection of Mumbulla Mountain together with the sacred Gulaga Mountain and the linking forests.
Monday's protest followed a weekend of stepped up actions to stop the woodchipping of native forests. The NSW Greens State Conference was held on Saturday at the Bermagui Community Centre. The conference is held every two months to discuss policy and campaigning.
"With Federal and State elections drawing close, the NSW Greens have their nose to the grindstone developing strategy and campaign plans," said NSW Greens MP and South East spokesperson Lee Rhiannon.
Greens MPs and members will consider an urgent motion calling on the NSW government to:
* end the industrial logging of native forests;
* reject plans to build any power station that burns native forest products; and
* stop all sackings and forced redundancies of NSW Forests staff and return the permanent workforce to June 2009 levels, and ensure effective environmental supervision of logging while it remains legal.
On Sunday morning Greens MPs and members joined local campaigners at Mumbulla Forest to take a stand for the Mumbulla koalas. The result was a mass forest protest of approximately 300 locals and Greens from across the state who enjoyed a choir, speeches and the world premier of a forest theatre production.
Liberal MP Andrew Constance meanwhile has called for an immediate overhaul of the NSW Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Laws to incorporate changes that would result in the prosecution of forest protesters for risking the lives of themselves and forestry workers.
"The forests are a workplace and the protesters should not be above the law when it comes to occupational health and safety. The same laws should apply to everyone," Mr Constance said.
"The NSW Labor Government should move immediately to ensure that the laws are strengthened.
"The actions of people such as Greens Clr Keith Hughes this week are outrageous as they do nothing more than endanger the lives of timber workers and themselves," he said.
"The recent erection of a 4m-high tripod should be a clear breach of OH and S laws given the dangers it poses for the paid activist that sits up it, the timber workers and the police.
"I'm advised other states have tightened their OH&S laws to address the actions of these protesters and its time NSW did the same," he said.
