Thirty Years of Creative Resistance - Friends of the Earth Australia

Anthony Amis
Our story begins with the formation of
Melbourne Rainforest Action Group
(RAG) in 1985. Partly inspired by,
and reacting to, the Swiss activist
Bruno Manser, our purpose was to
highlight the social and environmental
consequences of logging in the remote
Malaysian province of Sarawak on the
island of Borneo. The indigenous Dyak
and Penan nations were having their
land plundered and their culture and
lifestyle destroyed so that Australian
consumers could purchase poorly
made, disposable furniture.
Between 1988 and 1992 we conducted
many non-violent direct actions
including 29 ship actions where
we, as swimmers, kyakers, surfers
etc., attempted to physically and
symbolically blockade ships carrying
the imported tropical rainforest timber
on the Yarra River in Melbourne.
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In the quest for alternatives we hoped
that local forest management would
provide a suitable alternative to
imported tropical rainforest timber.
The result was disappointing and in
1989-90 RAG joined protests against
the logging of old growth forest at
Brown Mountain in East Gippsland.
Soon after, the interest in local
forest issues saw a RAG collective
form the Victorian Rainforest Sites
of Significance Action Group. This
collective was the beginning of the
Forest Network (FN). Since then we
have conducted hundreds of nonviolent
direct actions and helped to
establish the Indigenous Solidarity
Group and the Boycott Woodchipping
Campaign.
In the summer of 1993 -1994, the
network joined with the Wilderness
Society and Concerned Residents of
FoE 30 Years 108