Is protesting against logging wrong if it exposes alleged illegal practices?
This question was at the centre of the sentencing of two activists charged over a protest at a state forest on the NSW Mid North Coast.
Indigenous man Neville Kirk and Maddie Stephenson were charged after locking themselves onto logging machinery as part of a protest in June at Wild Cattle Creek State Forest — an unburnt remnant neighbouring bushfire-affected land on the Dorrigo Plateau.
High-profile environmental lawyer and former chief executive of the NSW Environmental Defenders Office, Sue Higginson, defended the pair in Coffs Harbour Local Court.
"I simply present this as something for the court to consider that members of the community are campaigning for the safety of our public forest estate," Ms Higginson said.
She told the court the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) ordered a Stop Work Order to the Forestry Corporation's operations at the forest weeks after the protest.
Ms Higginson tendered evidence from the EPA that the area where the protest was held was among the areas where Forestry Corporation had breached logging laws by felling giant trees.
But prosecutor Sergeant Garry Rowe said the alleged wrongs of Forestry Corporation did not validate the protesters' actions.
"Ultimately, two wrongs don't make a right," Sergeant Rowe said.
He told the court it needed to take into account the rights of the workers who were affected by the demonstrators as well as the right to protest.
"The defendants chose not to see the rights of the workers in the area. They chose to participate in those activities with consequences," he said.
Magistrate David O'Neil agreed with the prosecution, and said it was not clear that the pair was aware of the alleged breaches at the time of the protest.
'If it comes up, I'll do it again', activist says
Ms Stephenson and Mr Kirk both pleaded guilty to a charge of fail to comply with police direction and hide tools, property to unlawfully influence a person.
The latter charge carries a maximum of two years' jail and a fine of $5,000.
In sentencing Ms Stephenson, Magistrate O'Neil sympathised with her protest goal to promote action on climate change that he said needed "to be addressed urgently".
"But you must see the need to protest within the bounds of the law," he said.
The 28-year-old was sentenced to an 18-month conditional release order without conviction.
Magistrate O'Neil told the court he was prepared to hand down the same sentence for Mr Kirk, despite his criminal history in Western Australia that included drug and assault offences.
But Mr Kirk addressed the magistrate directly and turned down the charge.
"If it comes up again, I will do it for my country and my ancestors," he said.
The 32-year-old was convicted and ordered to pay a fine of $750.
