But counsel for 64-year-old Rosemary Anne Penwarden argued the phoney document was never intended to be seen as authentic, and instead had a satirical purpose.
The defendant appeared in the Dunedin District Court this morning for a jury trial after pleading not guilty to forgery and using a forged document.
The Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ) conference went ahead on September 30 in 2019 at Queenstown’s Millennium Hotel, attended by local delegates, as well as those from Australia and further afield.
Also present was a group of vocal protesters including Penwarden.
Twelve days earlier she allegedly used her friend’s laptop to draft a letter saying that the conference was postponed “until further notice”.
Crown prosecutor Richard Smith told jurors in his opening address that the final version was typed on PEPANZ letterhead “so it had the appearance it was an authentic document”.
Penwarden explained in the document that the reason for the postponement was the intended disruption expected to come from protesters.
On September 22 that year, the defendant allegedly created a free email account "conferencepepanz@ gmail.com" from her home in Waitati and less than a week before the event was scheduled to go ahead she sent the letter to delegates.
PEPANZ Office and events manager Carolyn Clark said news of the fake cancellation quickly made its way to her office.
“We all dropped everything to investigate what was happening,” she said.
From the numbers of attendees who contacted Ms Clark, she said it seemed like the majority of those invited had received Penwarden’s email.
“It was Ms Penwarden’s desire to cause as much disruption as she could, including having attendees failing to show up,” said Richard Smith.
“You might empathise or even admire the cause... but this isn’t a court of morals. Whether you agree with Ms Penwarden’s concerns is not the issue, it’s not the task.”
Defence counsel Ben Smith accepted immediately that his client had created and sent the document in question.
He said she protested at the Queenstown event and had strong opinions about environmental issues, but had not intended her letter be considered genuine.
“She didn’t think they were going to up sticks, she didn’t think she was going to stop the industry, stop the conference,” Ben Smith said.
“She was trying to make a point, a humorous point.”
Under cross-examination, Ms Clark accepted the conference was primarily for industry professionals to network.
She agreed with Ben Smith that stopping the conference would not have stopped any particular decision on fossil-fuel exploration being made.
Ms Clark accepted there were misspellings and blurred logos in Penwarden’s letter but disputed the lawyer’s contention that it was an obvious fake.
“If that was sent to me I would have thought it was legitimate,” she said.
The trial, before Judge Michael Turner, is scheduled to conclude on Wednesday.
