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Sydney Opera House

November 9, 2011 by · Comments Off on Sydney Opera House 

Sydney Opera House, Three activists who scaled the Opera House, unfurling a banner bagging a retail giant, have been fined in a Sydney court.

Miranda Gibson, 30, and Roseanne Phillips, 22, scaled the landmark on October 8 and abseiled from the western side of its western sail.

They unfurled a 10 by 12-metre yellow banner stating “No Harvey No! Stop selling Aussie forest destruction”.

Scott Mackenzie, 37, also climbed to the top of the building carrying the banner on his back, but remained on the peak.

They each pleaded guilty, in Downing Centre Local Court today, to a count of trespassing.

Magistrate Janet Wahlquist fined them $200 each, plus court costs.

Outside court, Gibson, from the protest group The Last Stand, said the protesters had achieved their goal.

“We took action to bring the plight of our great and iconic native forests to another great Australian icon in the heart of Sydney, and to send a clear message to Harvey Norman that profiting from Aussie forest destruction is no way to do business in this day and age,” she said.

The Last Stand has singled out Harvey Norman after a year-long investigation into its timber usage which, the protesters say, was contributing to the destruction of native forests.

They claim to have tracked timber from native forests in Australia through its shipment to China for processing into furniture, and then to its final sale in Australia through Harvey Norman stores.

The store has previously said it was being unfairly targeted and did its best to source timber from sustainable sources.

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