Media Release

Peter Gutwein MP
Shadow Minister for Forestry

Saturday 30th April, 2011

McKim must condemn latest protest action

Nick McKim must today strongly condemn the alleged unlawful protest action being undertaken by the Greens’ foot-soldiers, the Huon Valley Environment Centre, at Hobart wharf.

The Greens have never supported downstream processing in Tasmania, and their support for today’s protest which is against a company value-adding primarily regrowth forest into veneer, providing local jobs, shows that nothing has changed.

Last week Cassy O’Connor shamefully congratulated protestors for unlawful action at Forestry Tasmania’s headquarters, and Mr McKim limply defended her by saying it was in her capacity as a Greens’ member, not a cabinet minister.

This pathetic excuse would be laughable if the matter were not so serious.

Mr McKim and Ms O’Connor need to remember that they are members of the Cabinet with a responsibility to uphold the law. They can’t pick and choose when the support law-breaking and when they don’t.

I know the Greens are hurting because they have sold their souls and principles by propping up Labor in government, but they made their decision to join the government and they can’t pretend they’re not part of it when it suits them.

The most farcical thing about this whole situation is that Mr McKim is part of a three person cabinet sub-committee progressing the Statement of Principles, yet at the same time he is supporting and encouraging radical protests aimed at derailing the very process he claims to support.