A complaint has been filed with the Independent Police Conduct Authority, following threatening and unprofessional comments made by a Granity police officer to activist, Hamish Edwards, who, at the time, was occupying a tree on the edge of the Cypress Mine on the West Coast.

Edwards occupied a beech tree for five days at the edge of Bathurst Resources Cypress Mine, preventing native forest from being felled and forcing the expansion of the mine to stop for nearly a week.

Edwards was visited by police on the morning of Monday 6th April, at which time he was verbally trespassed from the area, but indicated that he would not be coming down. During this interaction, one of the police officers described at length the advancements in rifle technology which would make it possible for someone to shoot Hamish out of the tree from 500 meters away. The same officer also remarked that it would be a shame if Edwards died because it would mean more paperwork for him, the police officer.

Edwards says, “It is very clear who this police officer works for - environmental criminals, Bathurst Resources and their coal mines. It was a bit nerve-wracking to know that my safety, in part, was in his hands.”

Bathurst Resources is a coal mining company that owns and operates the Cypress Mine. The company has been issued with at least 27 infringements for breaching consents by over extracting coal and causing significant pollution to the Tara Stream and Bush Gully Stream. The company has filed a fast-track proposal to turn the Denniston Plateau, an ecological hotspot, home to roroa, fernbirds and avatar moths, into an open-cast coal mine.

Another member of Climate Liberation Aotearoa filed the IPCA complaint on Tuesday, 7 April in response to the officer’s comments.

Climate Liberation Spokesperson, Rach Andrews says, “evidence suggests that violent rhetoric from politicians and officials is linked to a rise in real-world violence. The fact that a police officer is making these sorts of remarks to a peaceful protestor is not only completely disgraceful, it’s irresponsible.”

Edwards says, “intimidation tactics from Bathurst and the police aren’t going to work. We will continue to peacefully protest the expansion of the Cypress Mine, and stop Bathurst Resources from spreading its destruction into the Denniston Plateau. No more trees should fall for dirty coal.”

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