Alleged poo-dumping Centrelink protester fights his case in court

*LANGUAGE WARNING* A man accused of trying to dump eight tonnes of animal manure outside the offices of the Premier and Cabinet staged an impassioned — and colourful — defence in court.

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A DISGRUNTLED disability pensioner has admitted he planned to dump “eight tonne of s**t” from his yellow tipper truck onto the steps of the Executive Building – as a pungent but peaceful protest.

But Scott Wayne Moore, a truck driver who claims he’s locked in a feud with Centrelink, denies he resisted police and failed to comply with an officer’s direction when the force arrived to move him on during September 9 last year.

Mr Moore, 52, hobbled into the Hobart Magistrates Court on Tuesday wearing a moon-boot and aided by a crutch – representing himself during a contested hearing after sacking his lawyer Dinesh Loganathan.

He told Magistrate Robert Webster he’d just been released from hospital the day before, narrowly avoiding his leg being amputated due to a severe foot infection.

Mr Moore said he wanted to work, but he couldn’t pass a job agency medical exam, meaning he was precluded from driving the truck he’d recently bought.

He said he wanted to talk to a politician to plead his case, with his manure-dumping exercise starting off “as a peaceful protest”.

Senior Constable Scott Hardman told the court he approached Mr Moore as he sat in his truck outside the Executive Building – where the offices of Premier and Cabinet are located opposite Parliament House.

He said he Mr Moore told him he had “8 ½ tonnes of s**t in his truck” before the policeman directed the pensioner to leave the Hobart waterfront area

“There was a pause and words to the effect of ok,” he told the court.

“But then he said ‘first, I’m dumping this sh**t’.”

He said Mr Moore then leaned over to his left, but the police officer held his arm and the pair engaged in a “very brief struggle”.

Mr Moore was then placed in the rear of a divisional van and taken to a police station, with his Ford tipper truck towed away.

Police body-worn footage was also shown to the court, in which Mr Moore can be heard saying: “I want to get off Centrelink … there’s no jobs in Tassie”, “I’ve been handballed” and “I’m not getting in the divvie van”.

“I have eight tonnes of s**t in here mate. If no-one listens to me, I’m f***ing dumping it,” Mr Moore can also be heard saying.

“This is discrimination … It’s very peaceful, I just want to speak to someone.”

Mr Moore also gave evidence, claiming that although he said he was going to dump the manure, he had not in fact reached to do so.

He said he wasn’t resisting police, but protecting his body from falling from the cab of his truck.

“I believe if you’re treated like sh**t, you give sh**t,” he told the court.

Mr Webster will deliver his decision on August 25.

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