Andrea Dawkins MP | Greens Member for Bass
More than 70 concerned residents and community members gathered to stand up for the Lapoinya forest, to protest the roading and forestry operations.
We have seen the government's draconian new laws in action for the first time today.
A local anaesthetist was arrested and charged under the government's new protest laws at Lapoinya, and a local councillor was fined. This is despite Minister Harriss' claims these laws would "protect 'mum and dad' type protestors."*
The residents of Lapoinya are hardly radicals. They're a concerned community group who have been forced to protest forestry operations because the government has ignored their pleas.
Senator Whish-Wilson and I were proud to stand alongside the people of Lapoinya.
This is a community who care deeply for this forest for its intrinsic value. They value the forest for its social and environmental worth, not just the small change the government hope to recoup.
* http://www.premier.tas.gov.au/releases/protecting_workers_from_radical_p...