Bob Brown
Environmentalist and former Greens leader Bob Brown will not face prosecution over his arrest at an anti-logging protest in Tasmania’s north-west. Source: ABC News
Mr Brown was arrested along with three protesters when they walked into the Lapoinya Forest exclusion zone in January.
They were among the first arrested under the controversial Workplaces (Protection from Protestors) Act 2014.
Tasmania Police commissioner Darren Hine issued a statement saying the charges had been dropped.
“The decision not to proceed was made by Tasmania Police after receiving legal advice from the DPP,” he said. “In this case the DPP observed that it was difficult for police officers to determine whether a person was in a business access area or on business premises.”
The former Australian Greens leader was due back in the Magistrates Court in June to defend the charge.
Mr Brown, 71, has been preparing to take the case to the High Court.
The former Greens leader said the development vindicated his stance against the laws.
“This was the first test of the Government’s laws and it’s fallen at the first hurdle,” he said. “They should never have been passed.”
He said the Government should now consider scrapping the laws.
“It’s obviously a question of whether the Government should go back to the drawing board,” he said. “In my books, it should drop these draconian laws and utilise the laws already available for keeping the peace.”
Mr Brown said he did not know if the charges against his co-accused had also been dropped.
