| Back to Letters | Back to Forest Letter Watch |
The Goolengook forest blockade in East Gippsland, which green groups said was the longest running in Australia, was raided about 5am by 40 police officers. A backpack full of new and used needles and several knives, including bayonets, was found.
A Department of Natural Resources and Environment spokeswoman said tunnels
were encased in concrete and led under a road.
She said 16 tonnes of rubbish was removed from the site. It is believed
officers also found marijuana plants, burnt spoons and an unknown white
powder. Protesters said the needles were for medical use by diabetics.
The raid razed the five-year-old fortress -- which included a kitchen, sleeping areas, moat, and drawbridge -- to permit access to a controversial logging coupe. Two people were arrested and six others were forced out of the fortress. One protester who had fixed himself to a road was later freed and arrested.
Green groups yesterday issued a "red alert" to activists across the state, saying the raid was the start of a big war. The raid came five days after 800 timber workers protested outside Parliament against the State Government's logging industry overhaul, which cut Gippsland logging by 43 per cent.
After the protest, the Government agreed to examine laws to control green protests. Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union assistant national secretary Michael O'Connor said the raid was long overdue. "If it had been anyone else or any other group they would have been dealt with years ago," he said.
Wilderness Society campaign co-ordinator Gavan McFadzean said the Government had capitulated to the forestry union and the woodchipping industry.
Forestry Victoria general manager Peter Rutherford said protesters had dismantled a bridge, which would have to be rebuilt at a cost of $40,000
| Back to Letters | Back to Forest Letter Watch |