Police have banned tractors from a farmer-led rally planned for Parliament House lawns on Thursday, dashing hopes some attendees had of driving their machinery into Hobart as a show of force, Pulse can reveal.
Organiser Lindsay White said police informed him no tractors would be permitted despite them being registered vehicles.
“The police seem to think that we’re gonna cause chaos, which we’re absolutely not,” he told Pulse.
“It’s going to be a very peaceful rally.”
The protest targets what farmers say is heavy-handed enforcement by the Forest Practices Authority (FPA).
White said the movement began around three months ago when a mate was fined $100,000 for clearing work on his farm.
Since going public, he said dozens of farmers have come forward with similar stories, with fines ranging from $50,000 to $260,000.
White said the FPA was set up in 1985 as a forestry advisory body but shifted its focus to agriculture as the forestry industry shrank.
“It’s a self-funded organisation and they needed the funds to keep themselves propped up, so they started picking on the farmers,” he said.
The rally will also deliver a petition with more than 3,000 signatures to parliament.
White said the Thursday timing was not ideal but necessary because parliament needed to be sitting.
“It’s a big thing for people to knock off their work and to come to the rally on a Thursday,” he said.
He is hoping for a few hundred people, with up to a thousand being the best case.
He stressed the event has no ties to any political party, despite One Nation sharing the rally online.
“It’s not a political rally at all,” he said.
Speakers will include Victorian Farmers Fight Back organiser Ben Duxton, TasFarmers CEO Nathan Cox, Central Highlands farmer Will Bignell and Melissa Ferguson, whose $100,000 fine on the east coast sparked the campaign.
White said he attended a similar rally organised by Duxton last week in Marnoo, Victoria, where a thousand farmers turned out.
He said politicians had been receptive in meetings so far but the core issue remained the FPA’s approach to enforcement.
“We’re working our way to solutions but it’s the FPA with their overreaching of rules that’s been our problem,” he said.
The rally is set to be held at 11am on Thursday September 10.
Tasmania Police confirmed it declined the permit application because organisers were unable to obtain public liability insurance in time, a condition of permits issued under section 49AB of the Police Offences Act 1935.
Police said the application was received on 21 August, about three weeks before the proposed event and that it normally requires 12 weeks notice.
A police spokesperson said Tasmania Police “worked closely” with organisers on the application and is continuing to liaise with them to ensure the event is held safely and public order is maintained.
Organisers were given a number of options, including postponing the event until insurance could be secured and advising attendees not to bring tractors or heavy machinery into the area.
“As is always the case, Tasmania Police acknowledges the public’s right to engage in peaceful protest, but we ask all participants to do so lawfully, safely and respectfully,” the spokesperson said.
