18 Save Lee Point protesters arrested in second day of clashes
Chief Minister Eva Lawler has called for calm after 18 people were arrested and a Save Lee Point protester was allegedly threatened by workers.
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Updated, Wednesday 2pm: Workers at Lee Point allegedly threatened to topple a tree that a protester had climbed to block a controversial Darwin housing development.
Footage captured by a Save Lee Point activist on Wednesday shows two workers staring up at him before one threatened to chainsaw through the tree
“That lanyard won’t help you when I cut you down from the bottom – you’ll just hit the deck even harder.” one worker said.
Save Lee Point organisers also allege land clearing work continuedwithin 50m of the protester, despite safety risks.
However it is understood work was soon halted to allowfire crews to access the tree protester.
Tensions at the site reached boiling point on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, with 18 people arrested and others issued warnings by police.
Chief Minister Eva Lawler said while people had the right to protest, the development went through the proper independent approval processes.
Ms Lawler said any injuries suffered by protesters were “their responsibility”.
“They’re putting their lives at risk... they do need to be careful... (and) they do need to be respectful of the workers that are there,” she said.
“I understand the passion of people, but let’s be sensible.”
Wednesday marked the second day of clashes between the activists, police and security, as construction crews began work on the 800-home Defence Housing Australia development.
Work was halted for hours on Wednesday morning, after around 40 protesters sat in the development site, singing and calling to ‘save Lee Point’.
Around 20 people formed a human chain around a group that sat and sang for hours, while watched by around 16 security guards and a dozen cops, including four mounted police.
The standoff started turning to arrests at 8.45pm.
Binybara Camp member Jessica Black said she was told by police anyone who chose to leave after 8.45pm, would not be arrested.
However, two of those looking to leave were put in a paddy wagon, as they had already been issued trespass warnings.
Ms Black was among the protestors who left before the arrests began.
Police also issued trespass warnings to around 20 people who were on the site but chose to leave of their own volition, meaning they could be arrested for future breaches.
The remaining Save Lee Point protesters were removed by police one-by-one, and put in the back of the three waiting paddy wagons.
NT Police confirmed 18 people were arrested, and would likely be charged with trespass.
Environment Centre of the Northern Territory executive director Kirsty Howey said the past two days had been “devastating” for those who opposed the development.
“This is the result of the failure of our federal environmental and cultural heritage laws which are speeding nature and culture destruction instead of halting it,” Ms Howey said.
South Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who visited the site in April, said Lee Point should be protected as “critical habitat in Darwin’s last wildlife corridor”.
“Reports that land clearing destruction may be happening without the presence of nature spotters and that peaceful protesters are being put in harm’s way are concerning,” Ms Hanson-Young said.
DHA have been contacted for comment.
Update 1pm, Tuesday: Clashes between protesters, police and security guards have ended in arrests and forced removals at one of Darwin’s most controversial housing development sites.
Land clearing has restarted at Lee Point a month after the 800-home Defence Housing Australia development at Binybara was given the final green light by Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.
A crowd of 20 was removed by police and security guards at 8am Tuesday morning, allowing trucks and construction workers to move onto the 132-hectare site.
One woman was carried from the gate after refusing to move, while two others claimed they were ‘grabbed’ and ‘pulled’ by security guards attempting to remove them from the access point.
Soon after the blockade was broken, Save Lee Point organisers alerted police to the presence of at least four protesters who were inside the active construction site.
At least two men were seen using ‘sleeping dragons’, a handmade lock-on devices used to prevent their removal.
One of the men was locked on to a tree, near Lee Point Road, while another locked himself to a bulldozer.
A total of four protesters were believed to be spread across the site.
Bulldozers have rolled into #LeePoint.
— Zizi Averill (@ZiziAverill) April 29, 2024
Around 20 #SaveLeePoint protesters attempted to stop the trucks entering the controversial development site.
Two protesters were physically removed from the gate. @TheNTNews@EnviroCentreNT@up_rising_pic.twitter.com/WItPxtO3HA
NT Police confirmed a man and a woman were arrested and charged with trespassing in the first six hours of the demonstration.
“Both will appear at Darwin Local Court at later dates,” a spokesman said.
Three security guards and two police officers were involved in the arrest of the woman, who told officers they were hurting her shoulder as she was put into the paddy wagon.
A police officer at the scene said the woman would be assessed for any potential injuries at the watch house.
Many of the activists were distressed as the trees and scrubalnds were knocked down.
Jessica Black, who was one of the protesters forced off the gate, but was not charged with an offence, said the Larrakia people and the wider community were “not going to let this place be destroyed”.
“We’ve seen the absolute beautiful community stand up like they have been for the last decades upon decades,” the Binybara Camp member said.
“Now is the time to gather together because we’re tired of seeing this place destroyed.
Ms Black estimated 30 security guards, 10 cops and four mounted police were patrolling the site, with police surveillance cameras installed.
“We have informed the police multiple times, and yet there are three heavy bulldozers travelling around (protesters within the landclearing site) – and the police do not know where those individuals are,” she said.
Activists claimed the land clearing occurred without “spotters”– staff employed to watch for safety hazards to people on site or potential harm to native species – which they said was necessary as part of the land clearing permit.
Independent Nightcliff candidate and Uprising of the People chief executive Mililma May and Fannie Bay Greens candidate Suki Dorras-Walker were among the protesters.
The DHA have been contacted for comment.
Trees bulldozed, protesters clash at Lee Point development site
Initial, April 30, 8.38am: A group of Save Lee Point protesters have clashed with construction workers and police as bulldozers moved in to the controversial housing development site on Tuesday morning.
Four protesters out of a group of about 20 clung to the wire fence in an attempt to block trucks from accessing the Defence Housing Australia site while others chanted “hands off” and “shame”.
One older woman was dragged from the fence by officers and security during the disturbance.
Police later arrested a woman for trespass, and she was escorted to the back of a police vehicle.
After removing the protesters from the site’s main gate, eight police officers formed a line across the path, with another four mounted police positioned on the other side of the fence.
Protesters continued to remain on scene arguing with DHA employees while bulldozers began knocking down trees at the edge of property at about 8am.
A spokesperson for the activist group said there were at least four protesters inside the active construction site, despite security posted every few metres along the fence.
More to come.
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