Ballan man bailed after two days in jail for rainforest protest

A Ballan man has received bail when he appeared in the Burnie Magistrates Court on Monday following a protest against the destruction of ancient forest in Tasmania.

Billy Rodwell, 23, of Ballan, faced charges of common assault, obstructing an MMG employee from carrying out mining operations under their lease and being on a forestry road that had been closed in accordance with the Section 23 of the Forestry Management Act.

Mr Rodwell pleaded not guilty.

He was arrested on Friday, May 28 and held in custody until the 11.30am appearance on Monday.

Police did not oppose bail and he was remanded to appear at a later date. However, he was not released from custody until 5pm.

The Bob Brown Foundation campaign manager Jenny Weber said it was the 13th arrest in 12 days over protests about a proposed new tailings dam in the Tarkine area. Dr Bob Brown said the treatment of Mr Rodwell was shocking and heavy-handed.

"Billy Rodwell shouldn't have been held on remand and should have been released from the police station on Friday," he said.

"Only Premier [Peter] Gutwein knows why Billy was treated so harshly."

Ms Weber said the "outrageous, ill-conceived gaoling of a young man for his first offence" had strengthened the resolve of protesters.

"What we have just witnessed from Tasmania Police, the government and MMG employees - the intimidation and bullying of a young environmentalist - has strengthened our resolve," she said.

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Bob Brown and his supporters have denounced the continued remand of activist Billy Rodwell.

The 23-year-old Ballan man was arrested on Friday and charged with assault. Police will allege that he assaulted a worker at a Tarkine rainforest protest.

Fronting the media in Launceston on Saturday, Bob Brown Foundation activist Scott Jordan described the arrest as an attack on their right to protest.

"This is a gentle young man who has come down to defend Tasmania's rainforests and he has been treated excessively harshly," he said.

"[It] can clearly only be an attack on our rights to protest and designed to scare and intimidate people to prevent from carrying out those protests.

"This is an obscene act of overreach by Tasmania Police."

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Mr Brown also spoke out against the arrest.

"This is totally wrong, this is an effort to frighten and put off peaceful conservationists who are upholding the rules of nature," he said.

"We've got true blue Australian citizens standing up for national heritage and what should be world heritage.

"First they vilify conservationists and now they're locking them up."

The group said they held concerns for Mr Rodwell's welfare after he was not released on bail.

"To use charges like this to keep this man incarcerated over the weekend is just obscene and Tasmania police should be ashamed," Mr Jordan said.

"This young fellow is languishing in Launceston jail and unable to have visitors at a time when he should be out ... the whole thing is wrong," Mr Brown said.

In a statement, Tasmania Police confirmed Mr Rodwell had been remanded in custody after appearing in court on Friday evening.

He is due to appear before the Burnie Magistrates Court via Zoom on Monday.

This article first appeared on The Examiner.