Two very different groups of protests took to the streets of Brisbane today.

In the middle of the CBD, environmentalists tried to draw attention to the plight of a rare and threatened possum.

While across town, defence force staff displayed their anger at the slow pace of pay negotiations.

Sarah Richards reports.

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The Wilderness Society asked Officeworks to wash their dirty hands and dump Reflex paper.

The paper company uses timber from forests in Victoria’s Central Highlands.

The Wilderness Society says if Reflex continues to use timber from Victorian forests, it will have an impact on the ecosystem.

The Leadbeater’s Possum is native to these forests.

Dr Tim Seelig, Wilderness Society: “There’s really just a few hundred or a thousand or so of these left, and they are directly threatened by the loss of their habitat.”

Meanwhile across the city, Civilian Defence staff have protested at the Victoria Barracks over stalled pay negotiations.

The Community and Public Sector Union says it wants the Defence Department to raise a three per cent pay cap.

Workers in the public service sector all over Australia walked off the job to vote on escalating their industrial action.

The union says today’s protests will be heard by the Defence Department.

Bill Marklew, CPSU Queensland Regional Secretary: “They have to listen, they’ve got every opportunity to nip this in the bud and get things back on track.”

He also says a three per cent pay cap for the next three years is not enough, when inflation is currently at three point six per cent.

Sarah Richards, QUT News.