Environmental activists from the Bob Brown Foundation have scaled the front of Parliament House in Hobart in protest of logging activities in Tasmania’s forests.
The activists suspended themselves from the nearly 200-year-old sandstone building for the first official sitting day of the year.
Speaker of the House Michelle O’Byrne condemned the actions, saying the protesters have put the right to safely allow protests at Parliament House In jeopardy.
“The actions that were taken outside the parliament today caused potential damage to a heritage building that is already on the fragile side,” she said.
“I don’t think we should in any way be glorifying that.”
The Bob Brown Foundation said the action was necessary to send a “strong message” to parliamentarians.
“The Liberal / Labor Coalition in Tasmania continue to log and burn forests,” foundation campaigner Erik Hayward said.
“We are demonstrating … outside Parliament House to remind the parliamentarians who support the logging destruction that we will be there, holding them accountable every step of the way.”
This is the first time in more than a decade that Bob Brown Foundation activists have scaled the building.
Police Minister Felix Ellis said it is “yet another political stunt from radical activists disrupting Tasmanian workplaces”.
“Police resources have been diverted from the community to attend the incident and this kind of selfish behaviour exposes our emergency service workers to entirely avoidable risks,” he said.
“Climbing a heritage listed building and putting people’s safety at risk is unacceptable and Tasmanians are fed up with it.”
