A new arrest warrant has been issued for an Aboriginal elder who believes Australian law does not apply to him and has again refused to appear in court.
Jim Everett-Puralia Meenamatta, 81, was due to appear in court on Monday to answer charges over logging by the Bob Brown Foundation in Tasmania.
However, Everett said he had no intention of appearing before a “colonial court”, claiming it “has no jurisdiction over Aboriginal people protecting our land”.
“We never made any agreements to become citizens,” he said.
Former federal Greens leader Bob Brown, who heads the environmental action group, defended Everett as “a wise old man”.
“(He) highlights the twin facts that the original Australians never ceded this land and so logging native forests is illegal for them,” he said. The Australian.
Everett was arrested in March and charged with trespassing during an anti-logging protest in the Giants’ Styx Valley in southern Tasmania.
His case was heard in Hobart District Court in June, but he failed to appear, prompting Judge Glenn Hay to issue a warrant for the activist’s arrest.
Jim Everett-Puralia Meenamatta (pictured) was due to appear in court on Monday to answer charges stemming from anti-logging operations by the Bob Brown Foundation in Tasmania
“There was no reason to show up,” Everett said at the time, adding that he planned to continue his actions.
He also said the prospect of a jail sentence or a fine did not bother him.
“They’ll catch up with me before I’ve done much more… or not,” he said.
‘I’ll probably get a fine, but I’ll finish what I’m doing and keep fueling this problem.
‘There’s no point in arguing with a colonial government and expecting them to listen to you the first time you bring it up.
“I’ll keep going.”
Because Everett failed to appear in court again on Monday, he faces arrest and possible jail time.
But first police must find him on the remote Aboriginal island of Cape Barren in the Bass Strait. The island is 478 square kilometres in size and is 216 kilometres from mainland Tasmania.
As part of his bail conditions, he has been banned from Forestry Tasmania’s permanent timber production area, which covers more than 800,000 hectares of public forest in the state.
But Everett said he had no intention of adhering to that.
“I have every right to go there and protect my country, and they have no jurisdiction to stop me,” he said.
“They’ll have to bring me to court by my guns.”
He said he would refuse to enter a plea in “a colonial court” and instead tell the magistrate they were insisting on his sovereignty.
“They do whatever they want. I could be in contempt of court, it could be a whole bunch of things, it doesn’t matter,” Everett said.
“We will continue to be arrested until this problem is addressed across the country and the government is forced to address the citizenship issue.”
Everett (pictured left) said he had no intention of appearing before a “colonial court” and claimed it “has no jurisdiction over Aboriginal people protecting our land”
Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre campaign manager Nala Mansell called for the trespassing charge to be dropped.
“The power that white people have over Aboriginal people, our lives, culture and cultural responsibilities must be somewhat flexible,” she said in a statement.
‘White people can govern and govern themselves, but their laws should not apply to Aboriginal people.’
Everett, a Pakana Plangermairreenner who has written poems, plays, political and academic articles and short stories, has visited many remote Aboriginal communities.
“If you understand what it means to be Aboriginal, it means you are part of the country,” he said.
“If you harm the country, you harm our community.
‘A lot of research has been done on the generational trauma resulting from the destruction of our country.’
Daily Mail Australia contacted Bob Brown for further comment.