Dozens of activists arrested after halting Newcastle coal train
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About 50 people were detained and escorted out of the rail route.
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Up to 150 in attendance chanted and waved banners reading 'Survival guide for humanity: No new coal' (Rising tide/ Newcastle Facebook)
In the Australian state of New South Wales, some 50 climate activists were detained when they boarded a train carrying coal and started shoving the coal out of the wagons.
Around 10 am on Sunday, the train came to a stop when passing Sandgate, close to the Pacific Highway, a few kilometers from the port.
About 20 people related to the so-called climate defense group Rising Tide boarded the train and used shovels to unload coal from the laden wagons, while another 30-odd provided backup inside the rail corridor. A banner displayed read: “Survival guide for humanity: no new coal.”
About 50 people, according to a group spokesperson, were detained and escorted out of the rail route.
Four were arrested by police, while the majority received future court attendance reminders and were freed.
The train was at least four hours late.
On Sunday, Supt. Kylie Endemi, the district commander of Newcastle City police, informed reporters that 47 activists had received court attendance notices and that three more had been charged, two for alleged intentional damage and one for accused assault on a security guard.
In the days leading up to Sunday morning, according to Endemi, police had been negotiating with one of the protest organizers. However, she claimed that the failure of the organizer to provide adequate information about the action rendered it illegal.
“While we support everyone’s right to free speech, we certainly don’t tolerate any violence or the conduct of any unlawful activity,” she said.
To respond to the demonstration, police sent out Marine Area Command and its air wing.
Those who took part in the demonstration on Sunday affirmed that the only option was civil disobedience in light of the significant expansion of NSW's coal production.
According to campaign organization Lock the Gate, eight coal projects in New South Wales that are pending clearance this year will generate carbon emissions equal to 10 times the state's annual CO2 budget.
“Rallies and campaigning within the system are clearly not working, so people like me who are terrified for our future are left with no option but civil disobedience,” renewable energy engineering student Jasmine Stuart said on Sunday.
“As the head of the UN said, the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels,” she added.
It is worth noting that the majority of the $71 billion in products that pass through Newcastle each year, the largest coal export port in the world, are thermal and metallurgical coals.
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