Sustainable Timber Tasmania pays legal costs of protesters wrongly banned from state's public native forest reserves
Nineteen environmental protesters wrongly banned from entering more than 800,000 hectares of Tasmanian public forest have had their legal costs covered by the state-owned forestry company.
The protesters received legal notices from Sustainable Timber Tasmania banning them from entering permanent timber production zone land, and any forestry roads.
Those issued notices had been protesting the logging of a 17-hectare native coupe in Meunna, a remote part of north-west Tasmania, late last year.
The forestry company offered to revoke the notices in February, but this week signed a settlement order admitting that the notices were invalid, and offering to pay the protesters' legal costs.
Bob Brown Foundation campaign manager Scott Jordan said the notices, which banned the protesters from entering 812,000 hectares of forest for an indefinite period, were "significant in their over-reach".
"These orders did mean that some people couldn't leave their properties without going onto Forestry Tasmania land or Forestry Tasmania roads. For some of us it meant we couldn't go to our workplaces without breaching these orders," he said.
"For all of us it meant we couldn't visit the forests that on Forestry Tasmania's own website they encourage you to go and visit, to camp, fish and go walking in.
"This was not about a safety concern as the act requires, this was about them punishing forest defenders and trying to prevent people standing up for those forests."
Mr Jordan said the legal costs were estimated to be about $27,000.
STT general manager Suzette Weeding said the company "identified a technical matter associated with the prohibition notices issued to protesters".
"In response, Sustainable Timber Tasmania revoked the notices on February 15th, 2024." she said.
She said the company had since revised the notices, and all issued since March this year were "valid".
STT did not answer how many notices banning protesters from entering public native forests had been issued since March, or what the initial error in the prohibition notices was.
Protester calls for apology
Meunna local and protester Maree Jenkins, who was prevented from visiting a block of land she owns in nearby rainforest, said she wanted an apology from STT.
"You can't just make up things as you go along basically," she said.
"The prohibition orders were unlawful … and I think all of us that got the prohibition orders would be quite happy to receive an apology."
A number of the protesters, including Mr Jordan and Ms Jenkins, are also facing police charges of trespass over their protest at Meunna, with the majority having issued not guilty pleas.
Government minister Guy Barnett, a former holder of the resources portfolio, said he would not apologise for cracking down on protesters.
"The government's position has not changed. We continue to support those workers and their families, they need to earn a living, they need to be able to go to work without being intimidated or harassed or bullied," he said.
"They need to support their families and we are backing those families and those workers 100 per cent.
"We will not relent."