Six Greenpeace activists have been arrested after climbing a crane at an inner Sydney construction site the group says is using illegal timber.
The activists scaled the crane at the Central Park development on Broadway about 7:00am, unfurling a banner saying “Stop illegal timber”.
Police arrested the protesters more than an hour later.
They have been taken to Redfern Police Station, but no charges have been laid yet.
Greenpeace claims the development is using plywood from an Australian wholesaler linked to illegal logging in Sarawak rainforests in Malaysian Borneo.
Spokesman Reece Turner expected police to take action even before the protesters were detained.
“We probably are expecting some arrests today. Greenpeace has taken some really strong action here,” Mr Turner said.
“There are hundreds of millions of dollars worth of illegally logged timber products coming into Australia.
“We’re urging the (Federal) Government to bring in long overdue laws to stop this trade.”
Greenpeace says it has been told by both the developer and wholesaler that they have documents showing the wood is certified legal, but they are yet to produce them.
The developer, Frasers Property, says it is committed to a high environmental standard and has asked the builder to thoroughly audit all timber used on the site.
Australian Federal Police also raided Greenpeace’s Sydney offices last week, after activists from the group destroyed genetically modified wheat at a CSIRO facility in Canberra a fortnight ago.
