For immediate release: Thursday 7 November 2024
The NSW Supreme Court has found in favour of the NSW Police Force in rejecting the Form 1 for Rising Tide People’s Blockade of the World’s Largest Coal Port, Newcastle / Muloobinba.
Zack Schofield, Rising Tide organiser and law student said: “Our plan is that the protestival will go ahead within our rights to peaceful assembly on land and water, which is legal in NSW with or without a Form 1. We’re carefully reading His Honour’s judgement to inform our next steps.
“The main public safety issue here is the climate pollution caused by the continued expansion of the coal and gas industries.
“That’s why we are protesting in our own backyard: the Newcastle coal port, scene of Australia’s single biggest contribution to climate change.
“Instead of trying to silence Hunter locals calling for a fair go, Minns needs to give us more than 2 percent of our own coal royalties back to actually support Hunter workers to transition.
“If Premier Minns is serious about climate action and taking care of Hunter workers, he should blow up his Floaties and join us at Horseshoe Beach a fortnight from now.”
Tim Crakanthorp, State Labor MP for Newcastle lent his support to the protest yesterday, addressing Hunter Region high school students at the University of Newcastle’s Forum on the Right to Participation. Mr Crakanthorp said:
“Rising Tide have every right to protest, absolutely and I support anyone’s right to protest at any time.
Responding to the decision, Form 1 applicant and blockade organiser Briohny Coglin said: “This is a sad day for the right to free speech of all Australians. Premier Minns should stop wasting taxpayers' money on fighting single mums like me over our right to peacefully assemble, and start spending it on workers in regions leading the energy transition.
“Rising Tide is disappointed with the decision and remains of the view that the safest way to hold the event is with the form 1 protections in place and working constructively with police towards our shared goal of ensuring everyone’s safety.”
“Safety has always been Rising Tide’s top priority, which is why we’ve negotiated within the Form 1 process for months and submitted detailed risk management plans to NSW Police in consultation with event planning experts and a Greenpeace safety boat team.
“We’ve got a Premier who is openly anti-protest, and two cases just in the past month trying to shut peaceful protests down. Premier Minns is on a rampage against free speech thanks to his irrational fear of peaceful protest activity, but he’s potentially harming every Australian’s rights when he encourages these court proceedings, including workers who may want to hold rallies.
“Just this week, we have seen warnings from the United Nations and the CSIRO that we are facing irreversible and catastrophic human suffering if we do not urgently transition away from fossil fuels - which is why Hunter locals feel so strongly about the coal port in our backyard.”
In his judgement, Justice Fagan said:
Justice Fagan heard in court that only six submissions had been made to Council during the event’s public exhibition process, and noted in his judgement that Council may well decide that Rising Tide’s protestival “would be of sufficient interest and value to the city [and the] community to warrant a permit.” [paragraph 10]
“The organisers of Rising Tide have taken a responsible approach to on-water safety by preparing very thorough plans and protocols, by engaging members of supportive organisations to attend with outboard motor driven rescue craft and by enlisting the assistance of trained lifeguards.
“The Court’s reasons are not to be understood as a direction to terminate the protest.”
The event is a family friendly, drug and alcohol free “protestival”. Over 30 live music acts will appear at the protestival, including Peter Garrett, John Butler, Angie McMahon and Indigenous hip-hop artist Dobby.
Rising Tide is calling for an end to new coal and gas approvals and the imposition of a 78% tax on coal and gas export profits to fund and support Australian workers during the energy transition.
MEDIA CONTACT: Tom Morton 0402 610 656
FOR COMMENT: Zack Schofield 0427 449 696
Background
The case was not about whether or not the event can go ahead. People don't need police permission to gather and protest on public land in NSW.
The case was never about whether or not the protest could go ahead, it was about whether or not the police could issue “move on orders” and charge protestors at the event with certain offences concerning obstruction of public infrastructure.
Rising Tide applied for what's called Form 1 protections and have been trying since plans were first submitted in April to work constructively with police towards a shared goal of ensuring the event runs smoothly and safely.
The Commissioner instead applied to the court to argue that no Form 1 protections should be in place and police should have their full suite of powers to arrest people at the event.
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Contact details:
Tom Morton 0402 610 656
