Kashmir Miller and Valerie Thompson face court in Ballina today over two separate stop-work actions targeting logging in Doubleduke State Forest in March and April 2023.
Dubbed by protectors ‘Gully of the Giants’, this forest was a documented refuge of unburnt forest of exceptional importance for threatened forest fauna.
Ms Thompson and Ms Miller are each facing multiple charges related to hindering forest operations after occupying a platform suspended from two harvesting machines in two separate events.
‘Doubleduke is a shocking reminder of why we need to end native forest logging in NSW,’ said Ms Thompson. ‘That they were even logging the Gully of the Giants at all, much less without proper mapping of giant trees or fauna, shows that Forestry Corp cannot be trusted to manage our state forests. They have lost absolutely all credibility.’
Smashed
‘While these charges inch their way through the court system, spare a thought for the iconic forest we stood up for, which has had no such luxury of time. Instead, ancient trees – many hundreds of years old – were smashed at break-neck speed by enormous forestry harvesting machines.
‘We call on the NSW and Australian Labor government to immediately act to end native forest logging, remove all subsidies of this wasteful and destructive industry, and fund a rapid transition out of native forest logging,’ said Ms Thompson.
Forest defenders say this message comes at a critical time in the Northern NSW forest campaign, as logging across NSW including in the Great Koala National Park continues to accelerate as the government drags its heels.
‘Native forest logging is also accelerating the climate crisis’, Ms Miller added.
‘We need to preserve the unique biodiversity of native forests for our own sake, as well as for the wildlife – including our iconic koalas, yellow bellied gliders, the powerful, barking and masked owls and many more.’
The lawyer representing Ms Miller and Ms Thompson in court today, Eddie Lloyd, said ‘by ending native forest logging we can all be secure in the knowledge that our important forests will stand for generations to come, playing their essential role in preserving our biodiversity and climate.’
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