The fourth day of the Rising Tide People’s Blockade on November 30 ended on a triumphant note after multiple actions led the NSW Ports Corporation to not try and bring more coal ships into Newcastle Port.
One coal ship passed through early on November 29 as the People’s Flotilla was getting underway.
Following that, a small, multi-pronged action succeeded in turning one inbound coal ship around.
Three coal ships were scheduled to arrive on November 30. One was delayed after a second smaller action came close but not close enough to stopping the ship.
Greenpeace targeted a second ship — locking on to the anchor and hanging a banner on the side — while the ship was still out at sea.
Finally, the “Tsunami” — a mass civil disobedience paddle-out to the restricted shipping channel — stopped the third ship.
Activists were ready for a second wave of the tsunami action, but tugboats returned to the port and the Port Authority confirmed that it would not bring in any more coal ships that day.
This outcome marks a significant advance on the last two years’ protests, where people power stopped the coal ships the port attempted to bring in.
Rising Tide participants were jubilant. They heard at the Blockade camp site heard that, in recent weeks, the number of coal ships entering and leaving the port each day was close to 30.
On December 1, 16 people locked on to coal equipment, causing coal loading at the Port of Newcastle to stop. Eight people have locked on to two coal loaders and a further eight have locked onto conveyer belts.
Today is the final day of the People’s Blockade of the world’s largest coal port. Thousands participated in a flotilla blockade that caused three coal ships to turn around, disrupting the export of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of coal.
Protesters are demanding that federal Labor stop approving new coal mines and tax coal export profits at 78% to fund new industries and to retrain coal workers as the world transitions away from coal.
Protestors unfurled a banner saying “Stop exporting climate chaos” and wrote “78% tax on fossil fuels” in chalk.
