NSW police take legal action to prevent climate activists blockading Port of Newcastle

A plan by climate activists to shut down the Port of Newcastle for 50 hours has been challenged by New South Wales police who have argued in a court challenge against the protest going ahead.

Police are challenging the protest – which is planned for 19 November – in the supreme court. It’s the second time in a month police have challenged a protest in court.

Organised by a group called Rising Tide, the protest would involve thousands of activists paddling into the Port of Newcastle on kayaks and rafts to stop coal exports from leaving Newcastle for 50 hours.

The group are calling the protest the “People’s Blockade of the World’s Largest Coal Port”. A week-long “protestival” expected to attract 5,500 demonstrators is scheduled to take place alongside the blockade, and includes music performances.

Police are challenging the organiser’s form 1 application to block the harbour for 50 hours. If the application is accepted, it would protect protesters from being prosecuted for blocking the waterway during that timeframe.

On Friday, the court heard from witnesses appearing for the police in the first day of hearings that about 30 ships would be blocked from exiting and entering the harbour over the 50 hours, creating a significant backlog.

Rising Tide’s lawyer Neal Funnell urged Justice Desmond Fagan to consider the economic impacts of climate change and the impact the fossil fuel industry “plays in that”. Fagan disagreed it was relevant to this case.

“I’m not concerned with taking into account the economic effect of the activity of burning coal in power plants in whatever country this coal is freighted to from the port of Newcastle – that’s not before me,” Fagan said.

Lachlan Gyles SC, who represented the commissioner of police, argued the planned two-day protest blocking the harbour was a safety risk.

He also said the duration of the full protest, scheduled for seven days, would restrict the public’s use of the area.

“The police are not trying to stop people from expressing views about this issue, that’s an important part of democracy,” Giles said.

“It’s whether it’s done safely and isn’t done in a way that disrupts activities and lives of people in Newcastle.

“Sometimes the impingement upon a person’s right to do what they do on the weekend … outweighs the important public right of free speech and public assembly and democracy.”

It is the second year in a row that Rising Tide have planned such an action. In 2023, police accepted the group’s form 1 to block the port for 30 hours.

The protest drew international attention when NSW police charged more than 100 people after protesters blocked the coal port beyond the agreed deadline. Among the arrested was a 97-year-old church minister.

Giles argued if the protest did go ahead, their intention was to again stay beyond the agreed deadline in order to draw “as much attention as possible to that”. The court was shown a video in which organisers discussed their intention to do so in an information session about the event.

The police assistant commissioner, Dave Waddell, appeared as a witness on Friday. He said he was concerned about safety because of the number of kayakers that would be on the water during the day and overnight, and the risks if the weather turned bad.

He said police had dedicated 400 officers to last year’s protest and more would attend this year. He expressed concerns about access for emergency vehicles.

Waddell told the court that last year 109 kayakers were arrested in an hour after the protesters overstayed the agreed deadline. Asked if the interaction between protesters and police was not hostile, Waddell said: “That’s correct.”

Earlier on Friday, one of the protest organisers, Zack Schofield, told media he was disappointed the police “had decided to use the time of the court, and our time, in challenging the right to peaceful democratic protests, instead of facilitating that protest with us”.

“Over the last two days, 72 civil society organisations, including the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change, Australian Conservation Foundation and the NSW Council for Civil Liberties have actually endorsed the blockade as an event critical to the democratic tradition of peaceful protest,” Schofield said.

Cover photo: Climate activist block access to the Port of Newcastle on 26 November 2023. A similar protest is planned for 19 November 2024, with thousands planning to to stop coal exports leaving Newcastle for 50 hours. Photograph: Roni Bintang/Getty Image