Rising Tide protestors successfully disrupted shipping of coal from the Port of Newcastle on 29-30 November.

Rising Tide protestors successfully disrupted shipping of coal from the Port of Newcastle on 29-30 November.

Former Wollongong Cr Cath Blakey took part in the protest and was charged under 18b of the Marine Safety Act, which carries a maximum penalty of $1100. Over the weekend, 141 people were arrested for entering the Newcastle Port shipping channel.

Zack Schofield, Rising Tide organiser said: “This protest is a victory for people power. Our intention was to stop coal ships from entering or leaving the Port of Newcastle and we’ve succeeded in doing this today. By continuing to approve new coal and gas mines, the Albanese government is failing to protect us from the worst impacts of climate change and when the government fails us, the people must rise.”

Cath Blakey said: “I took part in the protest because like many Australian's I’ve seen the climate impacts first hand. It has been six years since Wollongong declared a climate emergency. Six years since my mother-in-laws house was burnt when Gondawannan rainforest burnt in the unprecedented bushfires of 2019. There has been some progress in emissions reduction, but disappointingly the Federal and state Labor governments continue to approve new coal and gas mines and have failed to include a climate trigger in the new environment law reforms.

"I attended the Newcastle protests with 50 other Wollongong residents, taking on a wide range of volunteer roles in a well-coordinated public festival. I didn’t take the decision to kayak in the port lightly but the recent National Climate Risk Assessment shows that keeping coal in the ground matters when it comes to Australian livelihoods and our eco-systems."

Rising Tide is calling on the federal government to:

• to place a moratorium on new fossil fuel projects
• tax current fossil fuel profits at 78% to fund new clean energy jobs and pay for climate damage
• phase out coal exports

This tax policy has been demonstrated by Norway that has been taxing profits of its oil and gas sector at 78% since 1996. This tax has raised more than a trillion dollars for its sovereign wealth fund. In contrast, many of Australia’s biggest fossil fuel companies pay less than 2% income tax including Glencore (1.4%), Whitehaven Coal (0.1%) and Yancoal (0%).