SHADOW attorney general Vicki Dunne says Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury has confirmed his party’s status as environmental extremists by condoning  this morning’s alleged illegal actions of Greenpeace.

Mrs Dunne said Mr Rattenbury refused to condemn Greenpeace’s alleged actions when questioned on radio about a protest at a Canberra CSIRO facility, which saw a wheat crop  vandalised and destroyed.

“This is elected members of the ACT saying some illegal activity is justifiable,” Mrs Dunne said.

“Mr Rattenbury has clearly not lost his environmental extremist views since becoming an MLA.”

Mr Rattenbury told ABC radio: “I’ve certainly been involved in action in the past where Greenpeace has broken the law and that has been necessary to highlight what we’ve considered at the time to be a greater issue than perhaps a simple trespass.”

“Just last week Mr Rattenbury in his role of Speaker used parliamentary resources to tally the number of interjections saying the levels were unacceptable, yet this week he is condoning the illegal actions of Greenpeace,” Mrs Dunne said.

“Elected officials should not be condoning the breaking in and vandalising of other people’s property.

“Mr Rattenbury needs to immediately apologise and distance himself from this illegal behaviour. His current position sends a terrible message to the community. It’s not good enough that lawmakers send the message that you can opt out of upholding the law if the cause warrants it.

“The question for Greens Leader Meredith Hunter is what action she will take now that this appears to be the accepted position of her parliamentary team.”