KEY POINTS
- More than 80 people have been arrested following a blockade of Newcastle port.
- Protest action extended beyond the planned 30 hours.
- The Port of Newcastle contributes to roughly 2 per cent of the world's global coal supply.
A 97-year-old minister is among more than 80 people arrested after a blockade of a major Australian coal port continued beyond an agreed deadline.
Groups of protesters had been taking turns paddling into Newcastle Port's shipping lane since Saturday morning in action planned to last 30 hours.
But as 4pm passed on Sunday, marking the end of police permission for the protest, scores remained in the water expecting arrest.
Police said it would be alleged in court that protesters purposely entered the harbour channel after the deadline despite warnings and directions.
"Subsequently, more than 80 persons were arrested and are currently being processed," they said in a statement.
Protest organiser Alexa Stuart among those arrested was her 97-year-old grandfather, Uniting Church minister Alan Stuart.
"If the government will not take action on climate change, the people will use civil disobedience," she said on Sunday.
"We wish we did not have to do this, but the Albanese government needs to understand we are serious."
Rev Stuart said he was doing his duty to his family and the planet.
"I am doing this for my grandchildren and future generations because I don't want to leave them a world full of increasingly severe and frequent climate disasters," he said.
"I am so sorry that they will have to suffer the consequences of our inaction."
Rising Tide claimed over half a million tonnes of coal would be prevented from leaving the port for the duration of the action.
Protesters demanded the government stop allowing new coal projects, tax fossil fuel export profits at 75 per cent to fund community and industrial transition and pay for climate loss and damage.
Protesters have blockaded the Newcastle Port, with the action extending beyond the planned 30 hours. Source: AAP / Supplied
Greens, Labor, NSW Minerals Council at odds over protest, climate policy
Greens Leader Adam Bandt, who kayaked out with protesters on Saturday, called those taking part heroes.
"They're fighting to stop more floods and bushfires in this country," Bandt said.
"People here know that we're nearing a climate tipping point, and that coal and gas are fuelling the climate crisis.
"In the middle of the Labor is making the problem worse by opening more coal and gas mines," he said.
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen decried the Greens' action and pointed to his government's new investments in batteries for wind and solar farms.
"While the Greens are protesting, we are progressing jobs growth and emissions reductions by developing offshore wind," he told the Australian Associated Press.
NSW Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee denounced the protesters as "extremists".
Newcastle Port contributes to roughly 2 per cent of the world's global coal supply and its exports generate billions in royalties for the state government.
Galilee said the disruption would not change global coal demand or supply but would have a major impact on the NSW economy.
Bandt said governments and corporations cared more about money than the safety of Australian communities.
"People are fed up because Labor is not listening and now people are making their voices heard," he said.
Labor's promises and actions since winning office
During the 2022 election, Labor positioned itself as the more environmentally friendly of the two major parties, committing to .
To achieve this, the nation needs to reduce its greenhouse gas output by 43 per cent within the next decade.
But since entering office, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has approved four new coal projects that would produce an estimated 147 million tonnes of emissions across their lifetimes, according to the Australia Institute.
Adam Bandt says governments and corporations care more about money than the safety of Australians. Source: AAP, Supplied / Rising Tide
Retired public health professor Peter Sainsbury said immediate action was needed to save the world.
"Climate change far exceeds any public health threat that I have seen in my 40 years as a public health doctor," he said.
The blockade is the latest in a string of climate protests ahead of , which opens in Dubai on Thursday.
Bowen and assistant minister Jenny McAllister will attend the conference.
