GARDEN guru Peter Cundall has told a Hobart court he joined a protest over the Gunns pulp mill because of the mill's ''corrupted'' approval process.
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Cundall, 83, called for a royal commission into the state approval. ''What I'm suggesting is the way the legislation was pushed through the House [of Assembly] was corrupted,'' he said.
The former ABC television gardening personality took the stand yesterday in a test case following his arrest with 56 other protesters who refused to leave the steps of the Tasmanian Parliament last November.
He agreed he was not suggesting any MP was corrupt, but attempts to elaborate on his claims about the 2007 approval were cut short by magistrate Chris Webster.
''I'm not looking at the merits of the demonstration,'' Mr Webster said.
Cundall said although he was not officially a member of the Pulp the Mill group that organised the protest outside Parliament, he had joined the gathering on the steps as protesters waited for a response from Premier David Bartlett to a letter asking him to meet them.
Cundall has pleaded not guilty in Hobart Magistrates Court to a charge of refusing to comply with a police direction.
The House's sergeant at arms, Shane Donnelly, said he read an order to the group, prepared by the state Solicitor-General, prohibiting any protest on the steps or forecourt of the Parliament.
He directed protesters to move to lawns 15 metres away, where they were free to hold the demonstration.
Cundall told the court his hearing was impaired, and he did not hear Mr Donnelly's direction. But he agreed he did hear a police officer say he would be arrested if he did not comply with a police order.
''In essence, I felt I was not breaking the law,'' he said. ''We were still awaiting a response and we didn't believe we hadn't complied with the law.''
The case was adjourned until November 2.
