Retired journalist Margo Kingston was arrested at a community protest in the mid-north of New South Wales on Thursday after she locked on to machinery to protest logging operations in endangered greater glider habitat.
Kingston and another activist who protested alongside her are the 13th and 14th people arrested since forestry operations recommenced at the Bulga state forest last week.
The former Sydney Morning Herald journalist and author of the book Not Happy, John, about former prime minister John Howard, lives in the region and is a member of the community Save Bulga Forest group.
“I’m taking this action to protect this beautiful and biodiverse forest which is full of koalas and greater gliders,” she said before her arrest.
“I am way out of my comfort zone here, it is very confronting to lock yourself to a machine like this, but if I wasn’t here, this habitat would be being decimated.”
The NSW Greens environment spokesperson, Sue Higginson, said most of the state’s cross bench was calling for the government to end native forest logging.
“We are looking at some of the most upstanding members of our community putting their lives on hold, putting their bodies on the line and they’re pleading with our premier to take this seriously,” she said of the protests.
“Premier Minns is going to have to wake up to what’s happening. He cannot go on thinking it’s OK to ruin the public forest estate.”
Kingston has used her social media over the past year to document community efforts to protect the region’s forests from logging.
She has participated in citizen science efforts with other residents of the area, including the former federal Treasury secretary Ken Henry. Residents have spent months spotlighting for den trees used by endangered greater gliders, which they then register on the NSW government’s biodiversity database, BioNet.
Logging is not permitted within 50 metres of known greater glider den trees.
A NSW police spokesperson confirmed the arrests and said both protesters had been released on strict bail conditions to appear before Taree local court on 26 November.
“Police requested two women – aged 65 and 68 – to move on from the location; however, the younger woman had allegedly locked herself on to a piece of machinery,” they said.
“She was removed from the machinery by police before both women were arrested and taken to Taree police station.”
Earlier on Thursday, veteran forest campaigner and NSW Dunphy environmental award-winner Susie Russell appeared in court after she was denied bail on Wednesday night following her arrest for locking on to machinery. She has now been released on bail.
Russell, who criticised the federal and state governments this week for their stance on native forest logging, said campaigners’ actions were not just for the Bulga region but also for other, smaller communities in mid- and northern NSW where endangered habitat is scheduled for logging.
She called for a halt to all operations in public forests while an independent panel reviewed native forestry in NSW.
Russell said she hoped the review would find Bulga state forest and other areas like it were important environmental refuges, and that the Minns government would move to protect them.
“This is your one crack to do something, to leave a legacy that you can be proud of,” she said.
The Forestry Corporation of NSW said this week trained ecologists had undertaken nocturnal surveys for gliders and dens at Bulga state forest and put exclusion zones in place.
The agency said more than 50% of the area would be set aside and not harvested, more than required under the operations approval.
Comment has been sought from the government.
