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pleaded guilty to the charges whilst justifying their actions with the argument that limited violence against industrial equipment would prevent greater violence against the unique environmental heritage of
Western Australia's native forests. The two men were sentenced to seven years imprisonment, with a minimum term of ten months. Justice Jones said that he believed that the two men had been motivated by a higher ideal and were unlikely to commit the same offence again. This attracted criticism for being too lenient and an appeal by the Crown led to an increase in the minimum term to three and a half years.
257:. WA Police however thought it unlikely for him to have left the state, and a man hunt took place in and around Manjimup where Chester was located on 13 March. Chester once again escaped from the custody the following day and went into hiding in the bush. Chester made contact with a journalist and issued threats against the Premier
44:
237:
Neither
Haabjoern or Chester were affiliated with any environmental organisation, however, the bombing allowed opponents of the emerging movement to characterize all protesters as violent extremists. GW Kelly of the Forest Products Association said that the incident had been caused by extremists who
213:
Wearing stocking masks and armed with a .303 rifle, the two men cut through the fencing and held up the watchman, Trevor
Morritt, at gunpoint. Haabjoern set the charges at three critical points of the machinery and informed the watchman of their plans whilst also checking whether any personnel would
233:
The facilities were not critically damaged and the port was able to resume exports with barely an interruption. The remaining explosives were defused by bomb expert Jack
Billing, who was flown to Bunbury from Perth. Meanwhile police located Haabjoern and Chester within a week. In court, the two men
157:
More than 1,000 sticks of gelignite were planted by two environmental protesters, with the resulting partial detonation causing an estimated $ 300,000 in damages; two charges failed to detonate which limited the bombing's impact. No injuries were reported, although a security guard was held at
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202:, fuses, detonators and timing devices stolen from a Perth magazine. The motive of the protesters was to destroy the port's loading facilities and prevent the export of woodchips from Western Australia's old-growth
214:
be passing through the site. They then left the facility in
Morritt's car, taking him with them. Morritt would later describe Chester as agitated and a "loose cannon", whereas Haabjoern was "fairly cool and calm.
310:
702:
29:
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Chester would later escape from
Geraldton Regional Prison on 3 February 1978. Inquiries were made throughout Australia, with Sydney detectives suggesting he could be a suspect in the
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221:. At 5:25 am the first charge detonated, causing damage estimated at $ 300,000 (equivalent to $ 2,100,000 in 2022) to the gantry structure and sending steel pieces over the
198:
On the morning of 19 July 1976, Michael
Haabjoern and John Chester arrived in Bunbury, having driven a stolen car from Manjimup. The car contained more than 1,000 sticks of
210:
for at least 18 months. During that time they hoped to create a groundswell of opposition to the woodchipping industry with laws passed to prevent it in future.
805:
162:
for 18 months. This act of protest is now largely unknown outside of
Western Australia but was considered to have been a serious setback for the emerging
292:
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gunpoint and shrapnel impacted a nearby residential area. The intention of the bombing was to prevent the export of woodchips from
Western Australian
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Responses in Policy and
Practice to Radical Environmental Protest Targeting Key Parts of the Civil Infrastructure in Australia and the United Kingdom
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On the access road they placed two signs reading "Danger Separate Explosives" and "Danger Charges Ahead" and left the watchman 9 km away in
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in 1975, local residents Michael Haabjoern and John Chester felt they had no recourse to legal means of stopping the destruction of the
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considered the bombing to be an act of terrorism whereas the WA Police treated it as "just" a criminal act. Both the
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was an unprecedented and politically motivated act of property destruction that took place on 19 July 1976 at a
238:"inflamed emotions with a campaign of bitterness and hatred, divorced almost entirely from the truth." Premier
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24:
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A Forest Conscienceness: Proceedings 6th National Conference of the Australian Forest History Society Inc
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Fighting for the Forests: A History of The Western Australian Forest Protest Movement 1895 - 2001
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distanced themselves from the bombing and reaffirmed a commitment to protest by lawful means.
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at the time, despite the perpetrators being unaffiliated with any environmental organisation.
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into a housing estate, smashing windows. The remaining two charges failed to detonate.
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182:. This started to change in the 1970s. When woodchipping began around the town of
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Partial damage to woodchip loading facilities, malfunction of two additional bombs
465:"The 1970s as a time of transition for Western Australian native forests protest"
218:
355:
742:
Uren, M.C., ed. (20 July 1976). "Sabotage bomb fails to cripple chip base".
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in the 1960s initially attracted less opposition then it did in the
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Uren, M.C., ed. (19 April 1976). "Thieves get big gelignite haul".
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688:
616:
535:
Uren, M.C., ed. (22 July 1976). "Guard: Bombers Didn't Hurt Me".
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Harris-Hogan, Shandon (7 March 2017). Brown, Rick (ed.).
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297:(PhD). School of Criminology and Criminal Justice,
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392:What Do We Want? The Story of Protest in Australia
344:Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice
763:Taylor, Greg, ed. (30 March 1978). "Home News".
635:Patriots: Defending Australia's Natural Heritage
382:
380:
419:
417:
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136:$ 300,000 (AUD) (approx $ 1.8 million in 2015)
337:"Violent extremism in Australia: An overview"
8:
265:and said he might blow up a woodchip train.
36:
42:
35:
470:. In Calver, Mike; et al. (eds.).
274:
176:wood chip industry to Western Australia
703:"Bombers' non-parole period increased"
291:O'Donnell, Kathleen (September 2015).
495:from the original on 12 November 2021
248:South West Forests Defence Foundation
7:
806:Timber industry in Western Australia
554:
552:
348:Australian Institute of Criminology
120:Michael Haabjoern and John Chester
14:
571:from the original on 2 March 2022
365:from the original on 6 March 2023
719:from the original on 23 May 2018
711:. Vol. 51, no. 14638.
679:from the original on 23 May 2018
671:. Vol. 51, no. 14565.
607:from the original on 22 May 2018
599:. Vol. 50, no. 14435.
463:Chapmann, Ron (September 2004).
316:from the original on 22 May 2018
104:Protection of old growth forests
478:(published 2005). p. 250.
444:from the original on 8 May 2018
244:Campaign to Save Native Forests
639:University of Queensland Press
1:
675:23 December 1976. p. 7.
591:"Saboteur blasts plant in WA"
396:National Library of Australia
112:Woodchip loader, Bunbury Port
565:WA Police Historical Society
476:Millpress Science Publishers
827:
796:Crime in Western Australia
750:West Australian Newspapers
715:19 March 1977. p. 6.
561:"Woodchip Bombing Bunbury"
543:West Australian Newspapers
522:West Australian Newspapers
152:Bunbury, Western Australia
87:Bunbury, Western Australia
603:20 July 1976. p. 1.
41:
791:1976 crimes in Australia
174:The introduction of the
144:Bunbury woodchip bombing
37:Bunbury woodchip bombing
164:environmental movement
63:19 July 1976
30:considered for merging
771:John Fairfax and Sons
424:Chapman, Ron (2008).
437:. pp. 121–126.
398:. pp. 158–160.
255:Hilton Hotel bombing
745:The West Australian
538:The West Australian
517:The West Australian
299:Griffith University
150:export terminal in
51:South Western Times
38:
708:The Canberra Times
668:The Canberra Times
596:The Canberra Times
435:Murdoch University
307:10.25904/1912/3834
301:. pp. 71–76.
188:old growth forests
160:old growth forests
48:Front page of the
713:John Fairfax Ltd.
673:John Fairfax Ltd.
631:Lines, William J.
601:John Fairfax Ltd.
485:978-90-5966-026-7
346:(491). Canberra:
261:, mining magnate
223:Leschenault inlet
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752:. pp. 1, 3.
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663:"Bombers Jailed"
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433:(PhD). Perth:
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801:Eco-terrorism
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773:. p. 12.
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25:Infobox event
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727:– via
721:. Retrieved
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687:– via
681:. Retrieved
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637:. Brisbane:
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615:– via
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524:. p. 1.
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263:Lang Hancock
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117:Participants
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575:12 November
499:12 November
194:The bombing
19:‹ The
785:Categories
269:References
219:Australind
170:Background
67:1976-07-19
748:. Perth:
541:. Perth:
520:. Perth:
356:1836-2206
229:Aftermath
200:gelignite
28:is being
717:Archived
677:Archived
605:Archived
569:Archived
490:Archived
439:Archived
390:(2016).
360:Archived
311:Archived
246:and the
184:Manjimup
148:woodchip
83:Location
32:. ›
21:template
811:Bombing
766:The Age
125:Outcome
96:Bombing
65: (
723:30 May
683:30 May
645:
611:30 May
482:
448:30 May
402:
369:30 May
354:
320:30 May
109:Target
101:Motive
78:5:25am
729:Trove
689:Trove
617:Trove
493:(PDF)
468:(PDF)
442:(PDF)
431:(PDF)
363:(PDF)
340:(PDF)
314:(PDF)
204:karri
725:2024
685:2024
643:ISBN
613:2024
577:2021
501:2021
480:ISBN
450:2024
400:ISBN
371:2024
352:ISSN
322:2024
206:and
142:The
93:Type
75:Time
60:Date
303:doi
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
