Thousands of Tasmanians have flooded the streets of Hobart in an effort to send a message to the next state government that native forest logging should be ended.
Organisers from the Bob Brown Foundation, who spearheaded the ‘March for Forests’ event, expected a turnout of 500 but “got more than 3,000”.
“There is a huge move to get rid of the logging old parties. The swing away from Liberal and Labor will only grow in the coming week,” Bob Brown said.
The march down Murray Street to Parliament House, six days before the state election, drew participants from The Greens, The Wilderness Party and Aboriginal Elder Uncle Jim Everett.
“We’ve got to stop this native forest logging before there will be none left for our grandchildren. It’s very frightening,” he said.
“Aboriginal people understand they are very much a part of country. We are very much a part of the relational ecosystems in which we live and that sustain us and so are you.”
“Everyone in this place is taken care of and sustained by the natural world, not by these idiots who think that cutting down trees is going to make the world better.”
Despite criticism, Liberal Leader Jeremy Rockliff’ has stood by his campaign announcement to open 40,000 hectares of protected forests for logging.
“We back the industry. We back rural and regional jobs. None of my candidates are signing a Green front group pledge,” he said.
