A multi-day protest at the port of Newcastle in NSW has disrupted coal exports in what a state industry body has described as a "total disregard for public safety".
Climate activist group Rising Tide have blocked several coal ships from entering the port over the weekend, attracting thousands of supporters in the process, as part of what they called the 'People's Blockade of the World's Biggest Coal Port'.
The group said on Monday morning that 16 of its members were locked onto coal equipment, eight were locked onto two coal loaders, and a further eight have locked onto conveyor belts.
Rising Tide protester Fiona Lee was locked onto coal equipment this morning, the pro-climate group says. Source: Supplied / Rising Tide
Among those who locked on to a coal conveyor was Fiona Lee, a mother and an artist who lost her home in the Black Summer bushfires in 2019 near Taree on the NSW Mid North Coast.
"I cannot stand by as our government continues to approve the new coal and gas projects that are making these unnatural disasters worse," she said.
Another protester who locked themselves, high school student Myles Wilkinson, said he was angry at the "responsibility" left on his generation.
"Young people like me simply can not afford to ask nicely for climate action anymore," he said in a statement.
"All of my friends are so anxious about the future because we're inheriting a planet that's been destroyed by coal and gas companies. I am very sad that I feel like getting arrested is something I have to do, but I also feel anger that it is the responsibility of young people like me to hold corporations and governments to account for their role in driving our planet towards climate catastrophe."
The NSW Minerals Council said Rising Tide's actions would harm the group's own reputation.
"As expected, today the 'Rising Tide' protest organisers have once again displayed a total disregard for public safety," the council's CEO Stephen Galilee said in a statement on Monday.
"While any disruption to coal exports will be minimal and temporary, the damage to Rising Tide's credibility is significant and permanent."
NSW Police confirmed on Sunday evening that 141 people had been charged in relation to the protests, including 18 juveniles and two women aboard a ship.
Why is Rising Tide protesting?
Rising Tide has been calling for the government to stop green-lighting coal projects and to tax coal export profits at 78 per cent.
The group said in a statement on Monday this tax could "fund new industries and retraining to support coal workers and communities as the world transitions away from coal".
It also wants an end to all coal exports from Newcastle by 2030.
Zack Schofield, a spokesperson for Rising Tide, said the government is "failing to act" on climate and support workers and the surrounding community. Source: Supplied / Rising Tide
"The government is protecting the profits of multinational coal corporations instead of providing much-needed support for Hunter coal communities who will be most impacted as global markets turn away from polluting coal."
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