Protestors at Newcastle Port on Sunday. Photo: Rising Tide Australia
NSW Police have arrested and charged 170 people over the weekend after a flotilla of kayaks targeted coal ships in Newcastle Port.
Police says the protestors were charged with disruption of a major facility and failure to comply with marine safety directions.
Police said that on Saturday (November 23), two men and a woman were charged with refusing to obey directives to move on.
Just after 10am on Sunday (November 24), a large group of people entered the shipping channel and disrupted harbour operations, a police statement said.
They have charged 156 adults and 14 youths; 138 with disruption of a major facility, and 32 with not complying directives to move on.
Two were refused bail and are to appear in Newcastle Local Court today (November 24).
Police said 34 people had to be retrieved from the water, 10 people needed police help to return to shore, and one police officer suffered a fractured ankle.
Another five charges were laid over onshore traffic infringements.
The police said that despite the protests, the harbour remained open with 31 shipping movements over the weekend since Friday (22 November 2024).
In a social media post, Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt wrote: “Emissions are higher than under Scott Morrison but Labor keeps approving new coal & gas.”
He claimed thousands had gathered to say “enough is enough” as he posted an image of himself kayaking among the protestors.
“The tides are rising, but so are we – and people power will win,” he posted online.
The protest was organised by international activist group Rising Tide, who said that over 100 people heeded a call to block the port.
Rising Tide Australia said they had an arrestee support team in place on the days to help those in need of their support.
A yacht from Greenpeace joined in the protest on Saturday.
On Friday, the NSW Government announced that penalties for such protests were now a maximum $22,000 fine, two years jail or both.
