LISMORE ARRESTED IN MAJOR PROTEST ACTIONS TARGETING EAST COAST PORTS

BY KATE COXALL

Last week Naomi Shine was just one of a number of protesters who blocked roads, railway corridors, coal trains and access points for the transport of coal around the country, and offshore in an attempt to create awareness of the impacts of Australia’s coal and gas export activities in the Climate crisis.

Blockade Australia, the group responsible for the rolling protest which lasted for 5 days and disrupted Melbourne, Brisbane and Newcastle Ports, made headlines across Australia and even Internationally, with their clear message to decision-makers “that they plan to increase disruption as necessary, to stop the export of coal, and our contribution to the Climate Crisis”.

A spokesperson for the group also spoke about the reason they were specifcally targeting the Newcastle Coal Terminal, “the largest Coal Port in the world, produces 1% of total global emissions alone, which is a highly signifcant fgure, when looking at global emissions reduction as a whole”.

“Why Ports? The Australian system is designed to funnel wealth into the hands of the corporate and political elite. Australia exploits life and turns the natural world into private proft.”

“The Ports of Brisbane, Newcastle and Melbourne are three pieces of infrastructure that are critical to Australia’s export economy. Shutting them down halts global supply lines.”

Naomi Shine, Lismore resident, locked herself to two cars on the on ramp to the Brisbane Port on Wednesday 21st June saying “I’m doing this because otherwise I’d be miserable watching the ecosystems around me be destroyed. Direct Action is a method for creating change because it speaks truth to power and demonstrates the urgency of the situation. I really wish for humanity that we can fnd common goals and a sense of purpose, and more loving ways of existing with the earth.”

The protestors were not all met with positivity however, with some being physically and verbally assaulted by truckies, and others refused bail by magistrates. Protestors are now facing the new NSW Anti-Protest Laws which include jail time and fnes of up to $20,000.

Northern Rivers local, founder of the Environmental forcibly remove her from the lock-on device she was attached to, requiring surgery whilst in custody, however she ecosystems that we continue to take action to protect life.”

“Activists who disrupt destructive projects have

Defenders Offce and NSW MP Sue Higginson, recently told The Northern Rivers Times that these antiprotest laws “are putting our Democracy at risk”.

Naomi has since been released on bail, after police attempted to is expected to make a full recovery.

Naomi said ‘this injury is so much less than the experienced police and human violence since the earliest days of nonviolent intervention.” damage being done to ecosystems, to water, to climate, to all beings.”

“The violence that this state enacts on the climate itself will have dire consequences for all life on earth, it is because of the states threat of violence against

“Meaningful resistance is by its nature, uncomfortable. It is also the purpose of resistance because change only comes through discomfort. How we move through discomfort and care for each other is how we show what a different world could look like. To reconnect with each other and continue to take action is what’s needed if we are going to dismantle this system and build a world of care.”

“Addressing violence against each other and against our biosphere is the challenge we must all face, together.”