Hinterland Grapevine - 'Prospector' stakes claim on supermarket site

Booroobin's Matthew Smith, 33 pictured, has staked a claim on 2-4 Bunya Street for the purposes of prospecting. He's gone through all the right channels and has the paperwork to prove it. He reckons it can delay Uniton's work on the site. Uniton managing director Greg Quinn reportedly said the move was ridiculous. So is Matthew serious? You bet he is.

"After pegging out my Parcel Prospecting Permit my intention is to go in and survey for minerals other than

coal. And I will not allow Uniton to disturb my survey until September 27. That's it in a nutshell,'' he said. "I suggest that they stay away for that time. It's not ridiculous. It's a constitutional right that a citizen can stake a mining claim anywhere in Australia without any mining experience. The government gets a ten percent stake in royalties."

Director to take action to protect staff & company

Surprised by the reaction of the anti-Woolworths protestors, Mr Quinn stated that he was no longer prepared to accommodate the protestors on his land and is taking action to protect his workers and his company.   "Up until Thursday I was of the naive view that perhaps the protestors would act lawfully and peacefully ...we were going to accommodate them providing they didn't interfere with building work," he said.

"The approach they have taken clearly indicates to me that it wasn't the case and we will now use the full force of the law both publicly and civilly."

Mr Quinn said he would be calling on the Queensland Police Force to uphold the law and evict those trespassing on his property and menacing his staff.    Moreover, it means that civil lawsuits will be instigated directly at individual protestors on site, prosecuting them for trespassing and suing them for expenses incurred while the developer's men and machinery lies idle.    This will indeed test the protestors' resolve and potentially diminish the ranks, particularly with those who have much to lose.   "We don't have any choice," Mr Quinn said.   "They (the protest groups) are acting entirely unreasonably."

Mr Woodlands downplayed this latest tough talk by the managing director ...   "If he wants to talk about law, exisiting environmental laws are being trampled on to build this supermarket.   Unlike Mr Quinn and Woolworths we care about our creek and our platypus and our town.," Mr Woodlands said.

"Maleny is united against this supermarket and if needs be some people have been long prepared to be arrested because the Obi Obi Creek is the life blood of our town."

Developer postpones meeting with community

A public meeting set for this Saturday (July 2) to introduce the community to the directors of the new development company which has purchased the Obi site from Cornerstone Developments P/L has been postponed by Uniton's Managing Director, Greg Quinn. Mr Quinn, in a meeting with community members a little over two weeks ago, agreed to attend a public meeting called for this purpose at that time.

But he stated on Tuesday evening that "the timing is not quite right" for them to speak to the community this Saturday. However, Mr Quinn has assured the community that he will be contacting a spokesperson shortly to provide a few possible dates that would be suitable for this event.

Protest at Flashpoint

Last week the protestors campaigning against Hutchinson Builders developing a supermarket on the Obi Obi Creek banks for Woolworths reached flashpoint.

On June 23 Hutchinson's managing director Greg Quinn and his teams of surveyors tried to get on to their site to carry out pre-build surveying work. But they were quickly despatched by a bunch of angry protestors camping there, whose ranks were swelled to about 200 on the day by other citizens who oppose the building of a supermarket so close to the creek. Protest leader John Woodlands has already told TRN that he and his clan would not budge from the site and, while planning a peaceful protest, would consider measures including chaining themselves to trees and laying in front of heavy plant machinery to prevent it getting on site. And nothing has changed.

Photo left:

Protestors circle the platypus flag to show defiance

"When confronted with a situation where they want to remove us we are not willing to move," he said. "But we need to think on our feet and any resistance or obstruction we do will be done peacefully." Mr Woodlands said there is a stable community of about 20 people on site and said that they really needed numbers to swell because, ultimately, this was the best short-term defence to maintain the platypus environment.

"It's now or never," he said. "Our phone tree is growing and if we can get more people camping on site and more supporting us when the construction machinery comes we will be better placed."

Former senator says illegal protest is not on

Former National Party senator Stan Collard of Maleny says protesters should re-think their strategy of disruption. Mr Collard said protesters seemed happy to use the law when it suited them but were inclined to abandon it when it didn't. "They certainly have a right to protest,'' he said. "But they don't have a right to protest illegally. "I am not against the protest,'' he said.

"But I use the analogy of an ordinary householder who owned their land and wanted to build a house or whatever on it. And they got all the relevant permissions from the relevant authorities. And a bunch of people, not necessarily their neighbours, came and camped on their ground and said, 'No we don't want you to build this'. How would the ordinary householder feel in these circumstances? "But this is the scenario that we have in Maleny at the moment."

Last Updated ( Friday, 01 July 2005 )

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