‘Species on the brink’; first day of environmentalist Bob Brown’s appeal over trespass sentence

Over seven months since his conviction, environmentalist Bob Brown is back in the Supreme Court of Tasmania to appeal a trespass sentence. What the court heard on day one.

Bob Brown and Uncle Jim Everett Puralia Meenamatta speak to the media following Mr Everett's arrest for trespass. Picture: Elise Kaine

Former Tasmanian senator and environmentalist Bob Brown launched his Supreme Court appeal against his $500 trespass conviction from 2024 on Monday,

Dr Brown, joined by his partner Paul Thomas, hopes to challenge his trespass conviction handed down by Magistrate Jackie Hartnett on August 14 relating to an anti-logging protest near Snow Hill.

The charges date back to November 8, 2022, when Dr Brown and Bob Brown Foundation (BBF) protesters Karen Weldrick and Kristy Alger were at Royal George, in the North East highlands, protesting logging by Sustainable Timber Tasmania.

Dr Bob Brown outside the Hobart Supreme Court of Tasmania ahead of his appeal. Picture: Genevieve Holding

They claimed the critically endangered swift parrot used the land for foraging and nesting, and they were protesting to protect the bird’s habitat.

Lawyers for Dr Brown Kathryn Foley SC told Justice Kate Cuthbertson there were several grounds for the appeal, but at its heart was concern for a species.

“The swift parrot is a critically endangered species and this wasn’t in dispute in the previous proceedings,” she said.

“Whether using Commonwealth legislation or state legislation, the language means that this species is on the brink of extinction.”

Ms Foley contended that the order to leave from an STT employee at the logging coupe to Dr Brown was too broad in its language and “scope” to have counted as an official order.

She said the prosecution’s argument that this is what counted as withdrawal of consent from the land – and accepted by Magistrate Hartnett – was incorrect.

Australian environmentalist Bob Brown being arrested at Snow Hill in November 2022, while protesting the logging of swift parrot habitat. Picture: Bob Brown Foundation

“If an order applies to all Permanent Timber Production Zone land as Mr McKenzie’s did, and it’s not time-limited as Mr McKenzie’s was, it goes past broad,” Ms Foley said.

Ms Foley also argued that Magistrate Hartnett’s conclusion that there were no reports of swift parrots in the logging coupe that would require logging to cease was also incorrect.

She referenced numerous reports of swift parrot sightings or sounds by protesters on the day and prior to the protest, which under the Forestry Act requires STT to pause felling.

“Work pauses upon sighting until a swift parrot nesting site is found,” Ms Foley said.

Jim Everett, Bob Brown and Kristy Lee Alger. Forest protesters at Hobart Magistrates Court. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

The court will also hear from the prosecution, with the hearing expected to run for another day.

It comes as BBF protester and Aboriginal community leader Ruth Langford Tipruthanna was arrested at a protest on the western side of the Kunanyi / Mt Wellington range on the same day as the hearing.

Ms Langford said she was protesting against native forest logging of Tasmania’s ancient yellow gum as “a criminal act in a climate and extinction crisis”.

Originally published as ‘Species on the brink’; first day of environmentalist Bob Brown’s appeal over trespass sentence