Protesters who drilled holes in Parliament lawns had ‘exhausted all other options’, court hears

TWO anti-fracking activists who drilled holes in the lawns of the NT parliament with a bobcat last April did so because they felt they had “exhausted all other options”, a court has heard

Anti-fracking protesters Lauren Mellor and Conrad Rory pleaded not guilty to a joint charge of criminal damage. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford.

• Anti-fracking protesters to take on government in court battle

TWO anti-fracking activists who drilled holes in the lawns of the NT parliament with a bobcat last April did so because they felt they had “exhausted all other options” to get the Government to listen to their concerns, a court has heard.

Lauren Mellor, 36, and Conrad Rory, 34, pleaded not guilty to joint charges of criminal damage in the Darwin Local Court yesterday in the first day of a two-day hearing.

The court heard a group of around 20 protesters, including Mellor and Rory, drilled three holes in the Parliament House lawns on the morning of April 16 last year.

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The pair, alongside a number of Traditional Owners and community members from the regions surrounding the Beetaloo and McArthur gas basins, rallied outside the courthouse before the hearing yesterday morning.

Mellor, who the court heard hired the bobcat, told the rally the case had finally made it to a hearing after a “year-long pursuit” by the NT Government. “(The NTG) wants to charge us for criminal damage for our actions that involved less than one inch of a depth of a hole in the parliament lawns that will recover within a few days, yet at the same time the actions we were protesting by the fracking companies are destruction on a scale that could impact our global climate,” she said.

Defendants Lauren Mellor and Conrad Rory have pleaded not guilty to criminal damage. Picture Katrina Bridgeford.

Rory, who the court heard operated the bobcat during the protest, said he did so because politicians in Darwin were not listening to concerns of remote Territorians.

“These companies come in from overseas. They come out into the bush, frack our land, frack our water, destroy everything,” he said.

“No one cares what happens out there (but) once you get a bobcat on the parliament lawn everyone goes berserk.”

Senior Elder Nancy McDinny, from Borroloola, spoke at a rally outside the Darwin Local Court. Picture Katrina Bridgeford.

The pairs’ defence lawyer John Lawrence SC told the court they were fighting the charges on the basis that they were defending their land from potential impacts of fracking and with the defence of “sudden or extraordinary emergency” in relation to fracking’s potential impact on climate change.

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Both Rory and Mellor gave evidence, with prosecutor Ian Rowbottam questioning them about other ways they could have made their point.

“Have you got a local member out at Borroloola? Have you ever considered running for parliament yourself?” Mr Rowbottam Asked

“No … Because I’m a young fella, I’ve got a lot to learn,” Rory replied.

When Mellor was also asked why she did not run for parliament instead, she said she doesn’t “need to be in parliament myself to participate in a social and environmental issue.”