Survey shows little support for illegal protests
A new EMRS survey released by Forestry Tasmania today has found the majority of Tasmanians are still against illegal protests by anti-forestry activists.
The survey of 600 Tasmanians found 64 per cent believe that one of the favoured tactics of these groups, organising anti-forestry protests in other countries, is not a legitimate means of protest.
Acting Managing Director Hans Drielsma said it was difficult to understand why radical activists continued to organise such protests, when it clearly cost them public support.
“This independent survey found two-thirds of those surveyed said they would be unlikely to support groups engaging in this type of activism, while 60 per cent thought it had a damaging effect on Tasmania’s reputation.
“The survey also shows that 91 per cent of the community remains opposed to illegal protest activity in Tasmania.
“This survey confirms that any claim by the radical elements of the conservation movement to be reflecting community values is completely false.”
Several weeks ago, the activist group Still Wild Still Threatened organised a series of coordinated attacks on public buildings around the world, in an attempt to draw media attention to their cause.
“As many Tasmanians will recall, this is the same group that allowed their illegal camp on state forest to degenerate into a slum last summer,” said Dr Drielsma.
“The images of ‘Camp Florentine’ were a catalyst for the group’s alienation from community support.
“Forestry Tasmania has consistently stated that we support the democratic right to peaceful, truthful and lawful protest.
“It’s clear from this survey that overseas media stunts carried out by radical activists serve only to further disenfranchise the community from their cause.”
In contrast to these results, the EMRS survey also found a further increase in the community’s perception of Forestry Tasmania as a good corporate citizen, with respondents giving a score of 4.7 out of a possible 7.
To download your copy of the full survey, click below:
EMRS - Forestry Tasmania Image and Branding Research Report
ENDS
28 October 2009
Attachments:
No attachments on this page
Links:
No links on this page
RSS Feed