Chris Schuringa (right) with fellow activist Owen Hanson in a logged coupe near Congerah in 2020.

Chris Schuringa (right) with fellow activist Owen Hanson in a logged coupe near Congerah in 2020.Credit:Justin McManus

“We respect the right to protest safely but want to make sure workers go home to their families each day,” she said. “Every Victorian has the right to be safe at work.Protests are becoming increasingly dangerous,particularly for workers,which is why this legislation will support them to get on with their job and minimise disruption to the industry.”

The Age asked Thomas’ office and the government’s forestry agency,VicForests,whether any injuries had been sustained at logging sites in Victoria over the past year.

In response,a government spokesman said:“Not only has forest protest activity increased in Victoria over recent years,dangerous new tactics have been deployed by protesters that create an unacceptable risk to the safety of workers,authorised officers and police officers and the protesters themselves.

“There have been instances of protesters blocking heavy working machinery,locking on to machinery,tethering tree sits to machinery and standing under idle machinery – all of these tactics can have a detrimental impact on workers both physically and mentally.”

Liberty Victoria president Michael Stanton said the organisation opposed the new penalties,which appeared to be “plainly intended to have a chilling effect on protest activity”.

“Such protesters have the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly under the Victorian Charter of Human Rights,and are protected by the implied freedom of political communication under the Constitution,” he said.

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“Such draconian measures are plainly disproportionate.”

VicForests is defending almost a dozen community-led legal challenges to native forest logging.

Forests campaigner Tuffy Morwitzer in East Gippsland,near the Errinundra Plateau

Forests campaigner Tuffy Morwitzer in East Gippsland,near the Errinundra Plateau

Last year,itposted a $4.7 million annual loss,despite being given $18 million by the state government,attributing the loss to an unprecedented number of court challenges from community environment groups and the destruction of timber in the Black Summer bushfires.

In 2019,Premier Daniel Andrewsannounced the logging of native forests would be phased out in Victoria over the next decade,with a reduction in the level of native timber available for logging from 2024-25. In 2030,VicForests will become a plantation-based timber supply business.

Goongerah Environment Centre campaigner Tuffy Morwitzer said the government was trying to “demonise” public protest.

“The only thing dangerous is the Dan Andrews government’s continued commitment to thrashing our carbon stores and our water security through continued senseless logging – even after the worst bushfires in living memory,” she said.

In October 2019,Extinction Rebellion protesters locked themselves together using plastic pipes to block the junction of Spencer and Collins streets.

In October 2019,Extinction Rebellion protesters locked themselves together using plastic pipes to block the junction of Spencer and Collins streets.Credit:Jason South

“The fact is,the government has completely sat on its hands after the Black Saturday bushfires[and] logging practices have not changed at all. We need action now.”

The new laws,which have yet to pass,would introduce maximum fines of $21,000 or 12 months’ imprisonment for protesters who illegally enter timber harvesting zones and block workers or their machinery.

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PVC and metal pipes – which make it hard to dislodge protesters once they havechained their bodies to machinery and equipment to disrupt logging – would be added to the list of items prohibited on timber harvesting operations.

Anyone found carrying those items could face additional fines. Authorised officers would be given the power to search people’s bags and vehicles for pipes and issue protesters with banning notices preventing them from entering logging sites.

Forest campaigner Chris Schuringa said the new laws were “a really heavy-handed and draconian response” to people taking action to stop logging in our native forests. “Twelve months’ imprisonment for a peaceful non-violent protesting is ridiculous.”

The government is framing the new laws as necessary to protect the safety of timber workers,and Workplace Safety Minister Ingrid Stitt said every Victorian deserved to be safe at work.

“The agriculture industry is already a dangerous environment and is sadly overrepresented in serious incidents and fatalities,” she said.

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Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam said Victoria’s native forests were being logged at an alarming rate,describing the penalties for peaceful protest as “extreme”.

“Victorians have just voted unequivocally for candidates supporting climate action,which includes protecting forests. Yet instead of protecting our precious forests,the Victorian Labor government seems hell-bent on logging at all costs.”

VicForests was contacted for comment but did not respond before deadline.

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