More than 20 Rising Tide protesters have been arrested for blocking a road to federal Parliament House after they took their protest from Newcastle to Canberra on Wednesday.
It comes after NSW police arrested 173 Rising Tide protesters on the water after they paddled on kayaks and rafts to disrupt the Port of Newcastle – the world’s largest coal port. Organisers say it was Australia’s largest climate civil disobedience action.
On Wednesday, hundreds of people joined a rally organised by Rising Tide on the lawns of Parliament House. Security at Parliament House was on higher alert than usual, with the front entrance briefly closed to the public.
Rising Tide organiser, 21-year-old Alexa Stuart, who was at the Canberra protest, said about 100 protesters moved to block the road while about 50 others occupied the Parliament House foyer.
Stuart said that more than 20 people were arrested for blocking the road after they refused to follow police orders to move on.
“It has gotten to a point where we feel we have no choice but to take these types of actions so the government starts listening to us,” Stuart said.
The protesters are calling on the Albanese government to immediately cancel all new fossil fuel projects and end all coal exports from Newcastle by 2030. It is also calling on the government to introduce a 78% tax on coal export profits to fund the transition to renewable energy and support fossil fuel workers.
A 13-year-old, who was at the protest outside parliament on Wednesday, was among the 173 people arrested on Sunday.
“I was one of 31,000 people who lost their homes in the 2022 Northern Rivers flooding,” the 13-year-old said.
“I’m here today because I’m really, really angry that our government is sitting in their air-conditioned boardrooms watching our future burn and doing nothing about it.”
Rising Tide’s protest in Canberra comes after the City of Sydney passed a motion on Monday which included a $22,000 donation to the climate organisation.
The motion called on the NSW government to repeal the anti-protest laws – parts of which the supreme court found last year were unconstitutional – after 138 Rising Tide protesters were charged under the laws on Sunday.
The laws carry a maximum of two years in prison or a maximum $22,000 fine – the same amount that the council donated to Rising Tide – for blockading ports, roads and major facilities.
“Disruptions can be inconvenient and costly. But let’s put this in context: the continued destruction of the planet is worse,” the mayor, Clover Moore, said.
The council’s motion also condemned “harsh police practices with respect to protesters” and called “on the NSW police to cease pre-emptive and heavy-handed policing of protests”.
The motion, which was introduced by Greens councillor Sylvie Ellsmore, passed with the support of two Labor councillors. Councillor Jess Miller amended the motion to include the $22,000 donation.
Five unions, including the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, signed a letter opposing a bill the Minns government passed on Thursday extending the anti-protest laws. It now includes an offence for blocking railways.
Moore said that climate change was an “existential threat”, and “the criminalisation of those who protest is shameful”.
“In a democracy all people should have the right to protest without being arrested,” she said.
“We must phase out fossil fuels faster, fairly and for ever. We need to act with the urgency that this moment demands.
“If not, people will continue to advocate through peaceful protest and nonviolent civil disobedience.”
