All protesters removed from freighter

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All protesters removed from freighter

3News NZ

By Tova O'Brien

All the remaining Greenpeace protesters who stormed and chained themselves to freighter East Ambition off the port of Taranga this afternoon have been arrested back in port.

Their protest was against the importation of the ship's contents - palm kernel extract.

Using a crane and cage, police and fire services were hoisted four storeys into the air allowing them to cut the cables chaining the protesters to the ship.

Fifteen protesters boarded the ship this morning, one scaling the anchor as the others stormed the side of the vessel. Some struggled, hanging precariously from the ship's crane cables.

"It's pretty windy at the moment as you can hear," said activist Jo McVeagh earlier today. "It's pretty breezy too. It's a pretty squishy in these wombs. We are hanging in what's called a 'womb with a view', which is like a hammock."

The East Ambition is carrying palm kernel extracts, which are sent to New Zealand as supplementary feed for stock. But Greenpeace says it is the planting of palms that is responsible for mass deforestation in Indonesian and Malaysian rainforests, and they want the importation of kernels banned.

"Indonesia has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, and at the moment it's one of the third highest emitter of greenhouses gases because of the burning and the deforestation," says Bunny McDiarmid.

But farmers say the campaigners are ill-informed, and the feed is only used in times of drought.

"Their actions today are promoting economic treason on New Zealand's major export earner," says Don Nicholson of Federated Farmers. "That can't be tolerated in New Zealand and I hope law comes down on them appropriately."

Over the past seven years, palm kernel extract imports have skyrocketed by 4,500 percent, but both Prime Minister John Key and major importers like Fonterra say the kernels make up only a fraction of a Kiwi cow's diet.

"It's used for about 1 percent of feed in New Zealand," says Mr Key. "It's waste product. In my view it's not leading to deforestation and for that reason I have no intention of intervening."

All the protesters involved in today's action have been charged with illegally boarding a vessel. Greenpeace campaigners are unfazed though, saying the crimes committed against the planet are far greater than those that took place at the port.

Some of the footage used in this report by was supplied to 3 News by Greenpeace.

3 News
 

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Comments

17/09/2009 8:12:26 p.m.

Tiari. wrote:

I think everyone is just very un- informed. In my opinion Greenpeace are AWESOME !! i was out there in a gorilla suit supporting them this arvo in a very peaceful protest. But what people forget about is that when we chop down the rain forest we are not only killing orangutangs and the beautiful tigers we are killing of our oxygen source even I know that and Im a junior at high school !!

17/09/2009 4:01:27 p.m.

Quartz wrote:

I think that Greenpeace are doing the right thing by protesting. All Fonterra cares about is the dollar sign and the cows that already affect the Earth with their CO2 gases. They don't care about the numbers of orangutans and tigers that are now almost extinct because of their actions, or the natural rainforest. I hold nothing against the use of palm oil, but plant the trees in the spare land available in countries like Australia. Don't burn down the trees in Indonesia and blame it on villagers fires. The land can't grow anything once you burn it, further harming the people is Indonesia. We were fine not using palm kernels to feed our cows before. I think Fonterra should start taking responsibility for their actions before they destroy the whole planet.

17/09/2009 9:32:16 a.m.

Huang wrote:

It is idiots like this that stretched our police resources by putting their own worthless lives at risk.

17/09/2009 8:10:14 a.m.

annon wrote:

Unfortunately you are deluded Lisa, Your are anti NZ, anti intelligence, You have the climate change religion as your bible, I'm sorry that you don't focus your attentions on the global Banking system that forces global enslavement. Don't attack real company's that create wealth with real products not enslavement for some fictitious CO2 FUD dogma

17/09/2009 7:43:21 a.m.

John wrote:

Why doesn't Greenpeace protest in Indonesia and Malaysia where the so called forests are being destroyed? Is it because they are likely to face a government that is likely to deal with them stiffly and harshly as opposed to getting a slap on the wrist here? I wish that these people would go and get a real job and not harass the rest of us with their fanaticism!

16/09/2009 11:50:51 p.m.

Lisa Talbot wrote:

This is the 2nd embarrassing exploitative and environmentally disastrous blunder in as many years for fonterra. I will definitely not be a customer of a company with such lax environmental and social standards. Vote with your 'dairy dollars' and seek out independent, conscious and responsible suppliers. Organic Agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions, rather than use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all involved. Consumer power has the capacity to demand such practices in business, government and agriculture. If a quarter of the worlds palm kernal supply makes up 1% of New Zealand stock feed what are we feeding our cows and how big exactly is the NZ dairy heard? I feel for the honest farmers who find themselves part owners of this lemon.