A large pile of woodchips has been dumped on the doorstep of Member for Bega Andrew Constance’s office in protest of logging the South East’s forests.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Early on Wednesday, December 12, forest activists left one cubic metre of woodchips against the front doors of the MP’s office in Bega.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Constance said the woodchips from the protest had found their way to the beer garden at the nearby Commercial Hotel.
“They have been put to good use,” he said.
"I make no apologies for supporting local jobs and we [the Liberal Party] back working people."
A statement written by the activists, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed the native forest woodchips came from the “continued devastation” of the Far South Coast’s mature eucalyptus forests.
“These woodchips represent the ongoing senseless destruction of threatened species habitat, the despoiling of our water catchments and, most importantly, the wholesale trashing of one of our greatest carbon storage devices to combat climate disruption – mature native eucalypt forests,” the statement read.
“All products extracted from native forests can be sourced from existing plantations or through sustainable agricultural crops.”
It was later announced a 52-year-old man from Tathra had been fined $700 for aggravated littering and driving on a footpath in relation to the protest.
When speaking to the Bega District News, this man said Mr Constance either believed the science or did not.
“The science is telling us we need to act now and mature trees are our greatest way to store carbon dioxide,” he said.
"Trees store carbon dioxide and with climate change quickening why turn them into woodchips?
"It will mean the end of the dairy industry and what does he plan to do with the thousands of jobs lost when it happens?”
- with Albert McKnight