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| Image Credit: Google |
Sydney, April 16: On Sunday, approximately 50 climate
change activists were charged with unlawful protest near Australia's largest
coal export port, the Port of Newcastle. The New South Wales state police said
that 47 activists were charged with "rail corridor offences," two
with malicious damage, and one with assaulting a security guard during the
"unlawful protest activity." The police stated that the arrests were
made when the protesters were "occupying the train," while the
climate activist group Rising Tide, which claimed responsibility for the protest,
reported that 20 of the group had scaled the train and used shovels to unload
coal from the wagons. Fourteen activists had climbed onto a train carriage in a
railway corridor in the suburb of Sandgate, according to police.
The Port of Newcastle is the largest bulk shipping port on Australia's east coast and the nation's largest terminal for coal exports. According to the New South
Wales government, climate change is a contentious issue in Australia, the
world's largest coal exporter. The centre-left Labor government does not
support a ban on all new fossil fuel projects, instead seeing "safeguard
mechanism" reform laws as essential to its pledge to cut emissions by 43%
by 2030 in a country that ranks as one of the world's biggest carbon emitters
per capita.
The protest group posted an image on Twitter showing protesters in front and on top of a coal train. A banner on the train read "'Survival Guide for
Humanity': no new coal." The group tweeted that it had "halted
coal" into the port and demanded that the Labor Party "immediately
cancel all new coal projects."
A spokesperson for the Port of Newcastle stated that shipping operations were
functioning as usual on Sunday. The protest by climate change activists
underscores the growing divide in Australia over the use of coal and the
country's commitment to reducing carbon emissions. While some groups continue to demand an end to coal production and new fossil fuel projects, others argue that the industry is essential to the country's economy and energy security
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