January 19, 2023 – At 5am in the morning a Knitting Nanna, Sharyn O’Dell, took action for the future of her children and grandchildren.
Before dawn she attached herself to the main gates of the Heron’s Creek sawmill, the biggest native forest mill in NSW, now owned by Pentarch, a private company that have acquired significant interest in the native forest logging industry.
Ms O’Dell’s family stood beside her as she settled in waiting to be cut from the gate and arrested. Her son, daughters in law and grandchildren, are all immensely proud.
The day could be summed up as Empowering. It’s great to be able to see in real time the affect we had on stopping a day of business in the logging industry and also for raising public awareness.
Ms O’Dell said.
Ms O’Dell was initially given strict bail conditions which included: “Not publish any writing or information to incite others to commit offences” and “Not go near or associate with any person involved in protesting”.
She appealed these conditions citing the right to protest and the magistrate dropped all bail conditions including protest is any state forest, saying it is “everybody’s right to protest and state forest were public land”. The only bail condition that remained was that she couldn’t go near Heron’s Creek Timber Mill.
UPDATE: On 11 September 2023, the day before Ms O’Dell’s court appearance on a charge of “entering enclosed land”, her lawyers at the Environment Defenders Office (EDO) said the charge was being dismissed.
The lawyer who was also defending another protester Ella Baker, convinced the magistrate in that case that if there was a trespass, it was “de minimis” – of minimal consequence. The lawyer then contacted police, asking them “why was this case different?” After some consideration the police prosecutor realised they weren’t going to have an outcome in their favour, so the charge against Ms O’Dell was dismissed and she did not have to go to court.
Ms O’Dell had pleaded not guilty on the basis that she hadn’t entered the mill on enclosed land – she was on boundary which was not fenced.
Are you going to continue protesting?
“Absolutely with more vigour than ever until we win this fight. I never felt any weight during this ordeal. I had lots of support from friends and community. This is a great outcome, perfect really.”
Ms O’Dell said after receiving the news that the charge was dropped.
How are we going to resolve this issue?
“We won’t resolve this until Forestry Corp are ordered to stop. We are all waiting the NEFA decision.”
Ms O’Dell said
The NEFA case is a federal court legal challenge to New South Wales Regional Forest Agreement (RFA). This case, if successful, may have implications for other RFAs in New South Wales, as a well as Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia.
EDO is putting the case that when the North East RFA was renewed, the Commonwealth did not have regard to endangered species, the state of old growth forests or the impacts of climate change, as the EDO argued it was required to do.
NEFA is asking the Federal Court to declare that the North East RFA does not validly exempt native forest logging from federal biodiversity assessment and approval requirements (EPBC Act).
See also: Mother & daughter’s protest stops logging on Mid-North Coast, NSW & Forest defenders and climate activists arrested in Bulga State Forest
“There’s generations of our family standing here today to save generations of the forest.
“When these little kids grow up and ask me what did I to try and pass on a healthy planet for future generations, with tall forests and clear flowing streams, and koalas and gliders, I’ll be able to look them in the eye and say I tried.
“It’s not ok for companies like this to be profiting from the plunder of our forests. More than half the wood that comes in, leaves as woodchips. Some gets turned into floorboards, but just like it’s not ok to kill whales to make perfume, it’s not ok to kill koalas to get floorboards for designer houses. Sustainably managed plantations have to be the way forward.
“I live near Bulga Forest. I’ve seen the destruction with my own eyes. I moved to the area because I loved the forest greens and I also loved the people who were prepared to stand up for what they believe in.
“I heard Mayor Pinson on the radio yesterday saying she was running for election and supported harsher penalties for protesters. I’d like to remind her she wouldn’t be running for election or even be able to vote if it hadn’t been for those hard core protesters the suffragettes.
There were plenty of the ruling elite wanted to shut down those protesters too, but just as women won the vote, we people will stop the logging of our native forests. It’s just a matter of time. Governments know it, the loggers know it and we know it. It’s a matter of minimising the damage between now and then”
Ms O’Dell said.
Knitting Nanna Sharyn O’Dell locked onto the front gate of Pentarch logging mill on the mid-north coast NSW, which stopped logging trucks delivering their logs to be milled for toilet paper and sent overseas as wood pellets to be burnt for electricity. Video by Luca Lamont slingandarrow.com
Her family said:
“We are so proud of Mum/Shaz/Gram’ess for taking peaceful action and protecting our precious forests! We are 3 generations of a family standing together to stop native forest logging and Sharyn is inspiringly committed to making sure her children, grandchildren and future generations don’t have to suffer the ecological consequences of this destructive industry.
We hope our government will listen and commit to transitioning to more sustainable practices and end logging our public native forests.”
Ms O’Dell was arrested and taken to Port Macquarie police station where she was charged with Entering Enclosed Lands, Interfering with Business, and Refusing to Comply with a Direction Order. She was locked onto the saw mill gate at 5am, cut off at noon and in custody for a further 5 hours.
See our story: Lola Koala’s tree-sit in Bulga Forest continues a long tradition of forestry protest
The Knitting Nannas invite you to join the campaign to stop logging the beautiful old Bulga Forest. If you can’t come, please amplify her voice, share her posts, contact politicians, check out Save Bulga Forest on Biripi Country 2429 on Facebook, Save Bulga Forest Today, or email bulgaforest@gmail.com for more information.
