{"id":288753,"date":"2025-11-28T23:44:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T23:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/288753\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T23:44:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T23:44:20","slug":"australias-protestival-kayaks-music-a-push-for-climate-change-action-and-the-risk-of-arrest-newcastle-and-the-hunter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/288753\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s \u2018protestival\u2019: kayaks, music, a push for climate change action \u2013 and the risk of arrest | Newcastle and the Hunter"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has become an annual pilgrimage. Each November, thousands of protesters flock to the New South Wales<\/a> city of Newcastle for an annual climate protest \u2013 and standoff with police \u2013 as a flotilla of kayaks and sailboats head out to block the world\u2019s largest coal port.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of people set up camp at Foreshore Park on Friday in preparation for the Rising Tide people\u2019s blockade on Newcastle Harbour. The crowd was expected to swell to 7,000 over the weekend as protesters arrived from across the country for what organisers said had become a national gathering for Australians frustrated by a lack of government urgency to address the climate crisis.<\/p>\n

Protesters who join the flotilla face breaching an exclusion zone that the New South Wales state government has imposed over most of the harbour from Friday until 7am Monday. At last year\u2019s blockade, 173 protesters were arrested, with 133 of them charged. Four were found not guilty earlier this year and court matters for the remaining 129 are still pending.<\/p>\n

Organisers are calling for three things: an end to new coal developments, a fair transition for workers and communities affected by the shift away from fossil fuels, and a 78% tax on fossil fuel export profits, a figure influenced by Norway\u2019s taxes on its oil and gas sector.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think people are terrified about the impacts of climate change and we\u2019re already starting to feel those impacts,\u201d organiser Alexa Stuart says. \u201cThey\u2019re angry our government isn\u2019t doing more and is still continuing to approve new coal and gas projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organisers want three things: an end to new coal developments, a fair transition for workers affected by the shift away from fossil fuels, and a 78% tax on fossil fuel export profits. Photograph: Lee Illfield\/Rising Tide<\/p>\n

NSW police warned anyone who entered the exclusion zone would face arrest as it took a \u201ca zero-tolerance approach\u201d to protesters who \u201cthreaten public safety and the safe passage of vessels\u201d. The state\u2019s police minister, Yasmin Catley, said breaching the exclusion zone was \u201ca deliberate decision to put your life at risk and to endanger those who may be forced to save you\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"ClimateClimate activists paint ‘tax me’ on coal ship in Newcastle \u2013 video<\/p>\n

\u201cThis group has repeatedly defied court orders and police directions, entering dangerous waters despite explicit, repeated safety warnings,\u201d she said. \u201cAnyone who engages in unlawful activity will face immediate, decisive enforcement action. Your actions carry consequences including arrest and very real risks to your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stuart, 22, has been protesting for stronger climate action since she was 15. She says the annual \u201cprotestival\u201d \u2013 which also features a Saturday night waterfront concert, workshops and panel discussions \u2013 is a chance for people of all ages to come together in circumstances where they might otherwise \u201cfeel helpless at the scale of the devastation of the climate crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n

Protesters say the gathering in Newcastle is a chance for people of all ages to come together in circumstances where they might otherwise \u2018feel helpless\u2019. Photograph: Lee Illfield\/Rising Tide<\/p>\n

June Norman, a great-grandmother from Queensland\u2019s Sunshine Coast who has travelled to Newcastle for the blockade the past three years, says: \u201cI\u2019m here because I\u2019m 85 years old and I have grandchildren and great-grandchildren and I\u2019m really concerned about their future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve grown up in this beautiful country during the best years of Australia\u2019s life and what am I leaving for them? Therefore I need to do everything I can to protect their future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stuart criticises the Albanese government pushing through new national environment laws<\/a> this week that included no measures to prevent or limit new coal and gas projects, and says the state government appears \u201cmore interested in silencing peaceful protesters on climate change than acting in line with the climate science\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal of the flotilla is to draw attention to state and federal government failure,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s powerful that we\u2019re all here together calling for the same thing \u2013 action on the climate science.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It has become an annual pilgrimage. Each November, thousands of protesters flock to the New South Wales city…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-288753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}