News Articles:

>April 2006
More than 140 of Australia's leading legal minds have joined forces to call for urgent law reform to protect the community's right to speak out and take action over public issues, such as Tasmania's forests.
The unprecedented move by so many working in the law is in response to an increasing number of law suits against ordinary Australians for speaking publicly or demonstrating on public issues. The most recent example is the current $6.8 million action by Gunns Ltd against 20 people in relation to disputes over the protection of Tasmania's forests.
Click here to download PDF of the lawyers' statement.

>April 2006
The Wilderness Society's legal adviser Dr Greg Ogle documents the increasing number of cases that have chilled public debate through law suits against Australian community activists and groups. The report Gunning for Change examines a range of reforms and models for protecting public participation from this type of lawsuit.
Click here to read online, or here to download PDF version.

>March 2006
Protests Against Gunns held around the world! Check out TreesNotGunns for information and images of protests in London, San Francisco, New York, Canada, Japan, and more!

>30/11/05
Saving forests in an era of company writs and sedition
"Is protecting the environment an act of sedition? The question is not just rhetorical - it comes out of concerns raised that the proposed new anti-terrorism laws would render ordinary democratic practices illegal..."
Click here to read more of this great article by 'bush lawyer' and NGO worker Greg Ogle. From Margo Kingston's Web Diary.

>28/10/05
Human face of writ agony fronts Gunns
"It was expected that Gunns' plummeting share price and the proposed pulp mill would be raised at the company's annual meeting in Launceston yesterday. They were, but the appearance of the wife of one of the so-called Gunns 20 at the meeting was unexpected..."
Click here to read article from The Mercury.

>24/09/05
Another writ for activist
" A Tasmanian forest campaigner being sued by Gunns Limited has been served with a writ by a Westbury-based logging company..."
Click here to read this article from The Mercury. For more info go to the Press Release page.

>16/08/05
Revised claim by Gunns: Court action against environmentalists to proceed
" Timber giant Gunns yesterday lodged a revised claim against environmentalists in the Victorian Supreme Court. Justice Bernard Bongiorno had set yesterday as the deadline for Gunns to serve a third amended and "radically altered" claim or have the case thrown out of court..."
Click here to read this article from The Examiner

>16/08/05
Gunns refles claim against conservationists
"Tasmanian logging company Gunns has renewed its multi-million dollar legal action against environmentalists. The company is suing 17 individuals and three environment groups in the Victorian Supreme Court for trespass, sabotage and destruction of logging property. Gunns has just met the deadline set by Supreme Court Justice Bernard Bongiorno to refile its statement of claims against the defendants..."
Click here to read this ABC Online article.

>14/07/05
British House of Commons motion against the prosecution of the Gunns 20
Click here to go to House of Commons web page, and scroll down to motion 598.

> 10/07/05
Brown's tip: Forget about it
" Australian Greens senator Bob Brown has one recommendation for Gunns Ltd and its legal action against him and 19 other environmentalists and green groups. "Pack up your bags and forget about it," he said on the steps of the Victorian Supreme Court in Melbourne yesterday..."
Click here to read this article from The Mercury.

> 19/07/05
Gunns claim isn't over, warns Gay
" TASMANIAN timber giant Gunns Ltd will proceed with its bid to sue a group of environmentalists for millions of dollars despite suffering a setback yesterday..."
Click here to read this article from The Mercury.

> 18/07/05
Court strikes blow to Gunns compo claim
"Tasmanian timber giant Gunns has had a major setback in its bid to sue 20 environmentalists and environmental groups, with the judge describing parts of the statement of claim as unintelligible..."
Click here to read this ABC Online article.

> 18/07/05
Court rejects Gunns' claims against environmentalists
"ELEANOR HALL: A group of environmental activists has had a victory in Melbourne's Supreme Court this morning. Justice Bernard Bongiorno dismissed as embarrassing a statement of claims made by the Tasmanian logging giant, Gunns, against the environmentalists. But the judge has allowed the logging company to lodge a new statement of claims against the environmental group, which is calling itself Gunns 20..."
Click here to read a transcript of ABC Radio's 'The World Today'.

> 17/06/09
'Embarrased' Gunns apologises over court delay & Gunns logging case to be lengthy: judge
"Draconian court orders could be needed to manage the "enormous" damages action bought by Tasmanian timber company Gunns against environmental campaigners, a judge said today. Gunns is seeking an estimated $6.36 million from Greens leader Bob Brown, the Wilderness Society and other activists and groups. Justice Bernard Bongiorno said the case had the potential to tie upresources in the Victorian Supreme Court for many months..."
Click here to read two articles about the recent Gunns 20 court appearance in Victoria.

> 06/06/05
Louise Morris (Defendant #8) wins ACF Conservation Award
"Louise Morris is a young Australian on a mission. For almost a decade she has campaigned for forest protection, demonstrating a great commitment to Australia's environment and an enormous ability to inspire, educate and activate those around her..."
Click here for full report.

>21/04/05
Gunns 20 forum on YourDemocracy.Net
Click here to go to forum.

>08/04/05
Wedging Lennon
"Labor itself is increasingly detached from one slice of reality - the grassroots of civil society, including people who directly challenge vested interests. Tasmania's State Labor government has pushed this trend to disturbing extremes on forestry questions. Almost anyone who questions its pro-logging predilection becomes de facto enemy..."
Click here to read this story on TasmanianTimes.com

>28/03/05
Gunns 20
"Tasmania is certainly different; the rest of Australia knows that, but just how different is the real question! Very late last year - just before Christmas to be exact - a writ was taken out by Gunns Ltd and others on twenty citizens and organisations. The Plaintiffs claimed monetary damages amounting to $6.36 million..."
Click here to read NewMatilda.com article.

> 23/3/2005
Woodchips and law suit
"Doctor Frank Nicklason appears shy, when he states in a soft voice that he is frightened. Frightened of a situation, in which he might lose not only his home, but also possibly his job and his reputation. And his freedom, too. The freedom to speak his mind..."
Click here to read a translation of an article from the German newspaper Handelsblatt.

>16/03/05
Supporters log on to 'Gunns 20' fight
"A web site supporting a group of environmentalists being sued by Tasmanian timber company Gunns has been launched in Hobart..."
Click here to read ABC Online article.

> 15/03/05
Fighting the big Gunns in Tasmania
"Along a narrow dirt road, about 90 minutes from Tasmania's provincial capital of Hobart lies the small, residential community of Lucaston. It's an area of rugged, natural beauty that draws people looking to live a quiet life.
'A couple hundred acres of bush, wet forest thick with ferns and the like. Splendid, it is,' says Lou Geraghty as she describes her homestead near the top of a slope along a rolling valley..."
Click here to read the CorpWatch.org article.

>09/03/05
Environmental Groups Unite Against Corporate Assault On Free Speech
"Friends of the Earth International, Greenpeace International, the Rainforest Action Network and the Sierra Club unreservedly condemn the decision by the Australian woodchip company, Gunns, to sue environmentalists and politicians in Australia who have opposed its role in the logging of old growth forests in Tasmania..."
Click here to read joint press release from Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network & The Sierra Club.

> 05/03/05
Doctor who spoke out on public health issue is sued
"A doctor who claims he was doing his job according to the tenets of the Hippocratic oath when he spoke out about risks to health from the operations of a major logging company in Tasmania is being sued for causing alleged damage to the company's business activities. Dr Frank Nicklason, a staff specialist physician at the Royal Hobart Hospital, is one of 20 defendants..."
Click here to read the British Medical Journal article.

> 02/03/05
Forest campaigners vow to fight Gunns
"Forest campaign initiatives in Tasmania are beginning to gather momentum again after a lull following the October re-election of the pro-logging federal Coalition government. The December announcement that woodchip company Gunns Limited is suing 20 environmental activists and organisations has become a major focus for campaigners..."
Click here to read the Green Left Weekly article.

> 15/02/05
Logging company set for spectacular own goal
"Tasmanian rainforest destroyer tries to sue protestors into silence:
Gunns, the company responsible for logging the Tasmanian rainforests, is responding to a 5-year long campaign of protests and direct action by issuing a mass lawsuit, hoping to intimidate or impoverish its opponents out of existence..."
Click here to read CorpWatch.org article.

> 15/02/05
Victory for McLibel 2 against U.K. Government
"This morning (15th February) the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg declared that the notorious and long running McLibel case was in breach of the right to a fair trial and right to freedom of expression..."
Click here to read McSpotlight.org story.

> 26/01/05
Gunns 20 defy intimidation
"Eighteen members of the "Gunns 20", accompanied by 200 supporters, crowded onto a narrow footpath outside the William Street courthouse in Melbourne on January 14, to officially declare their intention to contest Gunns' lawsuit..."
Click here to read the Green Left Weekly article.

> 25/01/05
Radio National Law Report story on the Gunns lawsuit
"Gunns - the giant Tasmanian logging company - is suing 20 environmental activists and organisations for $6.3 million. The company claims the greenies have harmed the company by disrupting logging and woodchipping operations and also by vilifying the company to its customers and shareholders..."
Click here to read transcript

> 17/12/04
The 'McGunns' Controversy: who benefits when a company sues to save its reputation?
"Corporations may find it is not worth their while to sue the little person, writes Peter Bartlett.
Some years ago, McDonald's sued two environmentalists for distributing a pamphlet critical of the food served by the fast-food chain..."
Click here to read article on McSpotlight.org,

> 16/12/04
20 Gunns Salute for Tasmanian Environmentalists
"On Tuesday, a writ was lodged against 20 different groups and individuals, including The Wilderness Society and Doctors for Forests, by Gunns Ltd of Tasmania, Australia. They are attempting to sue for loss of business, to the tune of $6.36 million (AUD).
Within 24 hours, hundreds of demonstrators had gathered in the centre of Hobart..."
Click here to read Indymedia.org article.

For Tasmanian news and views, including Gunns related stories, click on Tasmaniantimes.com