3 Climate Protesters Arrested for Blocking Major Melbourne Bridge

Traffic is seen on the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne, Australia, on Feb. 9, 2024. AAP Image/Con Chronis

Three climate protesters have been arrested after causing traffic chaos at a major Melbourne bridge during peak commute time on March 5 morning.

Thousands of motorists travelling on West Gate Bridge encountered delays and disruption after three protestors from the radical climate group, Extinction Rebellion, used a hire truck to block three bridge lanes at around 7:45 a.m.

In a video on social media, three protesters were standing on the top of a truck, which was parked in the middle of the bridge, and unfurled several banners reading “declare a climate emergency” and “climate breakdown has begun.”

Motorists were forced to scramble to the two remaining lanes, resulting in heavy congestion that stretched back about 30 kilometres, according to VicRoads.

Extinction Rebellion said the protest was organised to coincide with the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit in Melbourne to attract attention from the Australian government and ASEAN leaders.

“This is a climate and ecological emergency, and our actions every day impact the habitability of our planet for ourselves and for generations to come,” activist Violet CoCo said in a video on Facebook.

“We’re extremely committed to non-violent direction action but we are committed to sounding the alarm on the climate and ecological emergency.

“We are asking the government and all levels of society to declare an ecological emergency and to act on that emergency as soon as possible.”

Ms. CoCo was sentenced to 15 months in prison and fined $2,500 (US$1,600) for blocking one lane of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2022.

While the protesters believed their action was to prevent a “climate endgame,” the blockage was met with strong objections from drivers who travelled on the bridge as they beeped their horns and threw unkind words at the activists.

Police arrived at the scene and negotiated with the protesters to clear the road, but the attempt was unsuccessful, forcing them to use a cherry picker to remove the climate activists from the truck.

According to authorities, the blocked lanes were reopened around two hours after the incident occurred.

Shadow Minister Calls Protest ‘Pointless’

While Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Birmingham acknowledged that people had the right to protest, he believed the Extinction Rebellion members’ action was pointless.

“This type of action is thoughtless and pointless,” he told ABC radio.

“It’s thoughtless for the impact that it has on thousands and thousands of Victorians. And it’s pointless because it’s not going to have an impact on the policies of ASEAN leaders who are here.”

Demonstrators march on a street during a Extinction Rebellion protest in Melbourne, Australia, on Oct. 7, 2019. Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/AFP via Getty Images

At the same time, Mr. Birmingham said the protest was not really about raising awareness on an issue like climate change, which had garnered enormous attention and understanding in Australia.

“It is going in the counterproductive sense, just driving further divisiveness,” he said.

“People who see protesters like this and think of it as an extremist action rather than an important serious mainstream policy consideration.”

Meanwhile, former Labor Senator Stephen Conroy condemned the activists’ action, saying it was irresponsible for them to block traffic on a major bridge.

“They could have parked on the side of the road, put up their signs and made equally as much visibility for their protest,” he told Sky News, noting that the blockage was an attempt to gain publicity.

“This sort of attempt to completely disrupt the lives of thousands and thousands of Melburnians is just not acceptable.”