A planned climate protest earmarked to blockade the rail line to the world’s largest coal mine at Newcastle, has prompted the New South Wales (NSW) Labor government to introduce a specific offence to deter such an action.
While protesters that block trains can face two years in jail, there is no added threat of a fine similar to when a road, bridge, port, or other major facility is blocked.
Labor plans to introduce legislation which will add a fine of up to $22,000 to the possible penalty, which would apply to not only railway lines across the state but also light rail lines, such as those outside Sydney’s Town Hall, where protesters frequently gather.
Climate action group Rising Tide has announced it plans to go ahead with what it’s calling a “People’s Blockade of the World’s Largest Coal Port” at the Port of Newcastle, despite NSW Police winning a Supreme Court case that gives them the power not to approve the protest.
Authorised protests are protected from prosecution but police can apply to the court to deny a permit to rally organisers—as they did so in this case, citing safety concerns, the interference with the rights of other members of the public to use the space, and the disruption to the coal industry.
4-Day ‘Protestival’ Will Go Ahead, Protesters Say
However, Rising Tide said the protest would still go ahead later this month and involve activists paddling into the port on kayaks and rafts to stop coal exports from leaving for 30 hours. That, and a four-day “protestival,” are expected to attract as many as 5,500 people.
“We do have a right to assemble on public land and water, and we will be exercising that right, because it is critical for democracy,” Rising Tide’s organiser, Zach Schofield, told reporters last week.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said adding fines to the potential penalties faced by protesters would send a message that blocking railway lines was unacceptable.
“Protests on railway lines are seriously dangerous and disruptive, and they are not tolerated in NSW,” he said.
Attorney-General Michael Daley said the proposed change meant the government was “balancing the right to protest with keeping the community safe and free from disruption.”
The increasingly tough anti-protest laws have drawn criticism, including from within the state Labor Party and the union movement, and part of earlier legislation, passed with the support of both major parties in 2022, was declared invalid by the Supreme Court last year.
NSW Greens MP Kobi Shetty has a Bill before Parliament to repeal the offences.
