Solid Energy stoops to new low

Green Media Release 27th June 2007

The Green Party is appalled to learn that Solid Energy's paid informant inside the protest group Save Happy Valley gained access to the group's confidential legal information in the court case that Solid Energy is taking against Save Happy Valley.

"Solid Energy is taking Save Happy Valley Coalition to court for defamation. Solid Energy's paid informant inside Save Happy Valley Coalition obtained legal information regarding Save Happy Valley's legal defence in this case. We can only assume that this information was passed on to Solid Energy's legal team. This is wrong and abhorrent in a democratic society," says Dr. Russel Norman Green Co-Leader.

"It is completely unacceptable for one side of a legal dispute to use paid infiltrators to obtain confidential legal information from the other side in a court case. This is far worse when the offending party is a large state owned enterprise which is initiating the legal action, and the other side of the dispute is a small civil society protest group.

"In spite of this, the Greens were very pleased to hear the concession from the Acting Minister for State Owned Enterprises in Parliament yesterday that currently no state owned enterprises are using paid informants to spy on protest groups. This is a victory for democracy and the green movement, and we hope it stays this way in the future.

"It is extraordinary that in a western liberal democracy we had to campaign to stop a state owned enterprise from using paid informants to infiltrate protest groups and spy on their activities. It should have been obvious to anyone who cares about democracy that this was a stupid, undemocratic thing to do. But nonetheless we are pleased to have won for the moment.

"However, there needs to be an accounting for what happened in Solid Energy and, until the management of that organisation come clean, the issue is unresolved."

ENDS

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