Bob Brown Foundation protester Lisa Searle sentenced to 18-month community correction order
A magistrate who warned an activist she may face a suspended jail sentence over a protest at a West Coast mine has handed down her sentence. DETAILS >>
Police & Courts
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A TASMANIAN GP and environmentalist who locked herself onto a crane in protest at a mine site last month near Tullah has avoided a suspended jail sentence.
Lisa Searle, who works with refugees and Médecins Sans Frontières, refused to leave Venture Minerals’ Riley Creek mine site when asked by the mine manager and police during a Bob Brown Foundation protest on March 22.
On Monday, she was sentenced in the Hobart Magistrates Court to an 18-month community correction order entailing 49 hours of community service after pleading guilty to trespass and resisting a police officer.
The doctor avoided a suspended prison term that Magistrate Jackie Hartnett last week flagged she would consider, given a list of previous convictions and fines had failed to deter her.
Lawyer Richard Griggs told Ms Hartnett the operations at the mine were able to continue while Searle was locked on the crane, and noted the protest was a peaceful act of civil disobedience, not a violent one, which he argued should lessen her moral culpability.
The court previously heard the protest began about 4.40am, causing delays at the site and affecting police resourcing across the West Coast, with three search and rescue officers diverted from Burnie to remove Searle from the crane.
Ms Hartnett acknowledged the protest was non-violent and did not greatly disrupt the mine operations, but said the action was “deliberate and planned with an implement that could not be easily removed by police”.
“It was observed that you were locked on to a rod by a dog clip that you could have undone at any time but you chose not to,” she said.
“Your offences had a number of consequences to police on duty that day. They were drawn away, people had to come with specialised equipment.
“Of course there is the political and democratic right to protest, but that is not unfettered … it does not allow for unlawful acts such as trespass.”
Outside court, Bob Brown said the sentence would not deter Searle and other activists from continuing to fight for the forest, noting she “does more hours of community service than anyone else I know, as it is”.
“You can’t take the heart out of people who want this planet, future generations and our fellow species to be made safe and secure,” he said.
“Lisa Searle’s got a morality here that we can all learn from. I’m proud of her, it’s great to be her friend, I encourage her to keep standing strong for our forests.
“The court has to do what it does but it’s not going to deter a growing revulsion and action against the destruction of Tasmania’s native forests and its wildlife.
“And I think the very fact the penalties get harsher against the environmentalists is simply going to bring greater public sympathy to ending native forest logging in Tasmania.”
Jail warning: ‘A fine is not a sufficient deterrent’
A MAGISTRATE is considering a suspended jail term for a Bob Brown Foundation protester over an action at a West Coast mine site last month, saying fines previously imposed on her for similar behaviour had not been a deterrent.
Lisa Maree Searle pleaded guilty in Hobart Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday to one count each of trespass and resisting a police officer over a protest at Venture Minerals’ Riley Creek mine site near Tullah on March 22.
The court heard Dr Searle, 38, locked herself onto a crane and refused to leave when requested to do so by the site manager and police during an early-morning action attended by about 20 protesters.
The police prosecutor told the court the protest action started about 4.40am, causing delays at the site for about six hours and also affecting police resourcing across the West Coast.
Dr Searle was arrested about 10.26am after three search and rescue police travelled from Burnie — a 90-minute drive away — to extricate her from the crane.
The prosecutor said police on Tasmania’s West Coast were “severely impacted” from 5am to 11am that day due to having to attend the protest action, which took them away from their “primary community policing roles”.
It meant many towns had “only a skeleton crew” and that during this time, police were also required to deal with a structure fire, a family violence incident and a request for assistance from paramedics.
Dr Searle’s lawyer Richard Griggs told Magistrate Jackie Hartnettt that Dr Searle should be fined.
“The protest was an entirely peaceful one. The defendant does accept and acknowledge the offence, but she has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity,’' he said.
“A recorded conviction and a fine would be an appropriate sentence in these circumstances.”
But Ms Hartnett disagreed.
“This occurred on March 22 this year. In November 2020 she was fined $1000 and that didn’t deter her. In May 2020 she was fined $1000, that hasn’t deterred her,” she said.
“Why should another fine have any effect?
“A fine is not a sufficient deterrent.”
Ms Hartnett ordered Dr Searle to be assessed for community service and said she was considering imposing a suspended prison sentence.
Mr Griggs said Dr Searle was a general practitioner who performs humanitarian aid work for Doctors Without Borders and planned to travel to Ethiopia in May as part of the program.
Dr Searle will reappear in court for sentencing on Monday.
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