Conservationist Bob Brown and five other activists will fight a charge of trespass later this year after they were arrested while protesting the logging of swift parrot habitat. Source: The Mercury
In December 2020, the group was arrested in the Eastern Tiers, where the critically endangered bird was nesting for summer.
On Friday, Bob Brown, campaign manager Jenny Weber, and activists Kevin Vaughan and Colette Joan Harmsen appeared in the Hobart Magistrates Court, entering a not guilty plea to the singular charge.
Fellow activists Gabrielle Claire Knox and Virginia Lucy Landon-Lane appeared via telephone link and also pleaded not guilty.
Magistrate Reg Marron heard a contested hearing would likely run over two-and-a-half to three days and would hear from a number of expert witnesses, police officers and a witness from Sustainable Timber Tasmania.
A lawyer told the court the case would focus on the withdrawal of consent to be on the land in question.
The matter will return to court on March 22 for mention, when a hearing date will be set.
