BRIEF
‘Cut carbon’ protest at Bayswater power station
Zane Alcorn, Newcastle
8 November 2008
After walking in to Bayswater power station near Singleton, I was one of about 25 people who took part in a protest at one of Australia’s biggest CO2 emitters on November 1.
We unfurled a banner on top of a massive pile of coal next to the power station. One worker approached us, asking for a photo. Another, asked what he thought of the protest, said: “It’s sort of like the Vietnam [War] protests. At first everyone said [the protesters] were ratbags, but it turns out they were right.” He also said he had been involved in the anti-electricity privatisation campaign.
We left after one-and-a-half hours, and after providing ID to the police. Later, we heard that some activists were still locked on inside the power station, apparently stopping the main conveyor and the back-up. They had forced the plant to switch to its emergency diesel supply. There were four arrests.
Rising Tide spokesperson Georgina Woods said the protest was aimed at the Australian government, which she said is not “acting fast enough” on reducing greenhouse gases emissions, “the biggest single challenge” humanity faces.
