Hunger striker meets WA environment minister
By Anne Pavy
PERTH — Hunger striker Phil Gregory met with the Western Australian environment minister Kevin Minson on the steps of state parliament on September 9.
Gregory, who at that point was spending his 12th day without food, hoped that Minson could explain to his satisfaction why the state government is allowing logging to occur in heritage listed old-growth forests in the south-west of WA.
Gregory said that the state government was not honouring the commitment made in the National Forest Policy Statement to protect wilderness forest.
Gregory was extremely disappointed with the minister's response that the forests were being managed adequately, and that he "will not stop logging".
"It's obvious that the government is not going to protect these forests on behalf of the people", Gregory told Green Left Weekly. "I have been able to raise the issue; it is now up to others in the community to act before it is too late."
Gregory's hunger strike has received a lot of media attention, as has Elaine Michaels, who had just completed a week-long hunger strike on Parliament House steps in Canberra.
He believes that the majority of Western Australians want the forests to remain and that the "issue is snowballing in Perth".
Other activists involved in the WA forest campaign have decided to support Gregory with a series of 48-hour solidarity hunger strikes.
Members of the community are invited to join in. Hunger strikes will be happening throughout September on the steps of Parliament House. To get involved contact, the Wilderness Society on (09) 321 3202.