Despite not being required to appear, Uncle Jim Everett attended the Hobart Magistrates Court on Tuesday, with the Tasmanian Aboriginal Elder's attendance leading to an argument between the 82-year-old and a magistrate.
Uncle Jim's matter, a trespass charge stemming from a central highlands forest protest last year, was listed for hearing in his absence, however Uncle Jim attended the courtroom alongside supporters, somewhat to the surprise of the magistrate.
When Mr Everett's name was called, magistrate Chris Webber said "obviously he's not appearing", before Uncle Jim stood up and began addressing Mr Webster.
"You never brought me in here because you know you have no jurisdiction," Uncle Jim said, the ABC reports.
"I thought I'd better come in here and put you right."
Uncle Jim has previously refused to attend the "colonial court" on multiple trespass charges, saying the court has no jurisdiction over him acting to protect Aboriginal law on Country.
His trespass charges relate to protests in Bradys Lake last October and southern Tasmania's Styx Valley in March 2024.
After becoming "sick of waiting" to be able to make his jurisdictional argument, Uncle Jim's appearance on Tuesday sparked a back-and-forth exchange between him and Mr Webster in open court.
Uncle Jim: "You have no jurisdiction and it's time you went to your lawmakers and get a verification of the very fact that you don't."
Mr Webster: "As soon as you walk out the door, and I call your name, if you're not here, you'll be dealt with the same as anybody else who doesn't appear in court."
Uncle Jim: "You do as yourself, because you've got no jurisdiction whatever you decide here."
Magistrate Webster: "That's OK, it doesn't make any difference to me."
The exchange continued as Uncle Jim left the room.
Mr Webster: "If you're not appearing, I'm not listening to you."
Uncle Jim: "Of course you're not."
Mr Webster: "OK, go. If you want to appear, you can appear and put a good argument."
Mr Everett: "No use talking to deaf ears. No verification of citizenship, no jurisdiction. You know this, Mr Webster, you know this."
After Mr Everett left the chamber his matter was brought on for hearing, before Ruth Langford, who was arrested at a forest protest in January as well as last week in southern Tasmania, addressed Mr Webster.
"Most of us are trying to act in good conscience to try and protect the very things that are giving us life," she told the court, the ABC reports.
Mr Webster: "We often hear of people being sovereign citizens … but if you're not here, you can't argue it, can you? That's the point I was trying to make to him."
Ms Langford: "He does understand that, and that's why he finds it very challenging to come into these places. Nobody here understands what it's like to be colonised, to have your own laws taken away from you."
Mr Webster: "The Anglo Saxons have been colonised a few times, haven't they?"
Outside court Uncle Jim said he remains steadfast about his cultural obligation to care for Country.
"The magistrate's suggestion I go from one court jurisdiction to a higher court jurisdiction is outlandish and I won't be doing anything of the sort," he said, The Mercury reports.
"I've made it clear that this is about protecting our native forest and stopping the logging of our native forests.
"The government is the lawmaker and they need to start to tell the truth; they never made an agreement with us for citizenship, they have no jurisdiction and we still have an obligation over our lands."
The matter was adjourned indefinitely after the prosecution attempted to tender a forest practices plan and affidavit from the authorising officer at Sustainable Timber Tasmania.
