Tasmanian Gods

Defenceless frackers, exploiters and polluters who are threatened by people with placards may soon receive new and much-needed protection from the government of Tasmania. Some years ago a forestry corporation sued twenty activists under the defamation laws; the corporation lost the case and had to pay out to the defendants, which is clearly not the way laws are meant to work. The Tasmanian government is also annoyed because too much of the island's forests have been protected from exploitation, to the needless shame and humiliation of the local profiteers. Accordingly, the government has increased the legal penalties for protests that "prevent, hinder or obstruct the carrying out of a business activity", and intends to change the law so that campaigners can be sued for damaging corporate reputations, whether or not any financial loss is incurred. The original draft of the law provided for mandatory three-month imprisonment for persistent tree-huggers, but was watered down after the United Nations described it as "shocking", although it undoubtedly caused gussets to moisten in all three of Britain's major political parties and the Liberal Democrats.