In May, a personal letter was hand delivered to the $10 million mansion of Mike Smith, the CEO of the ANZ bank in Melbourne’s most affluent suburb of Toorak. The letter, signed by the E.L.F., declared that his property, including his and his wife’s luxury cars, amongst a detailed list of other personal items, would not remain safe so long as ANZ continued its financing of the proposed Gunns Tamar Valley Pulp Mill in Tasmania.
The proposed pulp mill, run by Gunns- Tasmania’s forestry corporation which holds a virtual monopoly over the state, would contribute greatly to global warming, it would spew 64,000 tonnes of effluent into the Bass Straight every day, bring the Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle, the spotted tail Quoll, and the giant freshwater crayfish to extinction, and would turn the ancient old growth forests of the Great Western Tiers, the North East Highlands, and the Ben Lomond forests into pulp.
The same night, vegan pizzas from numerous multi-national chains were delivered unsuspectedly to the doorstep of Mike’s family home.
By strange coincidence, the following week ANZ withdrew its support for financing the $2 billion Gunns Tamar Valley Pulp Mill project.
This effectively puts the pulp mill’s future in a dire situation. Unfortunately the state and federal governments of Australia still continue their backing of the eco-cidal project.
UK Coal is about to devastate a beautiful part of the Derbyshire countryside by starting an open cast mine. So ‘Leave it in the Ground’ and Earth First! decided to make some noise over it with people from Derby, Nottingham Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester and Brighton as well as other places, all travelled to UK Coals Head office in Doncaster to make some noise.
Local residents reclaimed Hulme Park in Manchester on Friday for an hour by closing down the road that runs through it. Leaflets had been distributed and posters stuck around inviting people to reclaim the park – “one love, one park!!” People played games, ate and drank, and generally sat around in the street chatting to old friends and new. The police turned up in fair numbers on time, but sensibly – shock horror – just left enough of them and PCSOs to help direct traffic away, and left us to it. 
6.06.2008
June 3rd, GroenFront! occupied the Benelux headquarters of E.ON in Rotterdam. The office was closed shut down from 6 AM – 1 PM, when police specialists finally managed to remove some technologically advanced lock-ons. GroenFront! is demanding an immediate halt to the construction of an E.ON coal power plant on the Maasvlakte, part of the port of Rotterdam. The action is part of GroenFront!’s “shrink or drown” campaign, which aims at bringing down the size of the Dutch economy to more manageable proportions. Seven protestors were arrested for refusing police orders or refusing to show an ID. They were released around midnight.
A peaceful, imaginative and fun protest against oil dependency and car culture. A celebration of the bicycle and also a celebration of the power and individuality of the human body. A symbol of the vulnerability of the cyclist in traffic. The world’s biggest naked protest: 50+ cities and thousands of riders participate worldwide, including more than 1500 in the UK in 2007.