11 arrested in forest protest
Copyright 2001
The Australian
November 27, 2001
By Belinda Hickman
ELEVEN people were arrested yesterday in the southwest forests, in the first protest against government logging policies since the ALP won office.
Twenty-one campaigners were discovered at the Barrabup site, 2km north of Nannup, before 6am. They had locked up machinery, forcing work to stop for most of the day.
The ALP benefitted at the state election from its promise to halt logging in old-growth forests. Conservationists said yesterday they had hoped it would not be necessary to resume protests -- which became ugly during the Regional Forest Agreement process under the Court government.
The Western Australian Forest Alliance said campaigners were concerned about damage to Barrabup occurring before an assessment was finalised next month.
But Forest Products Commission general manager Paul Biggs said the area was not covered by the moratorium on old-growth logging.