Palawa activist Uncle Jim Everett vows to fight on after arrest for trespass
A Tasmanian Aboriginal elder and political activist was arrested in a forest on Tuesday morning, but he says he will not obey a “colonial court” which he says has no jurisdiction over his actions to protect country.
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Indigenous elder and political activist Jim Everett vows he will continue to defy orders to appear in court on trespass charges, saying the state’s courts have “no jurisdiction” over him.
Pakana/Palawa political activist Jim Everett-Puralia Meenamatta was arrested in a logging coupe in the Central Highlands on Tuesday, on his 82nd birthday.
He is set to appear in court on December 12 but said he “will not attend their courts unless they drag me there.”
Mr Everett said he was “testing the colonial court” which he says has “no jurisdiction” over his actions to protect country.
Tasmanian Police said an 82-year-old man from Cape Barren Island had been charged with trespass, while 12 other protesters complied with directions to leave.
Mr Everett said he was taken to New Norfolk police station and charged with trespass, and said although he didn’t sign any documents for bail, “the police didn’t want to hold me, they let me go again”.
“They don’t really want me in that court for two reasons.,” he said.
“They know they can stop native forest logging and they know that they have never made an agreement with us about citizenship.
“I’ll be in that court when they take me there, and then we will really sort out the truth,”
Supporters of “Uncle Jimmy” chanted his name and sang Happy Birthday on the Parliament House lawn after his arrest.
“The Palawa have been under colonialism now for 221 years and have never had any agreements with the colonial governments of Australia or Tasmania to become Australian citizens,” Mr Everett said.
He said the arrest was a present to the forest, which is being destroyed for profits for the “failed colonial project”. He argued loggers could sustain their industry using plantation forests alone.
Mr Everett said native forest logging was the “criminal act” and called for Tasmanians to oppose the practice if they want forests for their grandchildren to see.
He said the government was “on notice” and he would be going back into contentious logging coupes “again and again” until they “drag him” in front of a judge.
A government spokesman declined to comment as the matter is before the courts, but said the government respects the right of an individual to protest “peacefully and lawfully”. “Every Tasmanian should be free to go to work and earn a living for their family,” the spokesman said.
Bob Brown Foundation founder Bob Brown said he was proud to stand by “Uncle Jimmy”.
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Originally published as Palawa activist Uncle Jim Everett vows to fight on after arrest for trespass
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