Image: Risingtide.aus/Instagram
Legal experts are urging NSW Police to drop 129 charges against members of climate action protest group Rising Tide.
This request comes after a Newcastle court found four protesters involved in the 2024 People’s Blockade of the World’s Largest Coal Port in Newcastle, not guilty. The blockade was the largest act of civil disobedience for climate inaction in Australia’s history.
Magistrate Brennan dismissed the charges due to a lack of evidence regarding the timeline of when the defendants entered the coal port’s shipping channel at the time of their arrest. The four protestors — Noah Bruce-Allen, Roisin McSweeney, Andrew George, and Joanna Gardner — pleaded guilty to fine-only offences under the Marine Safety Act.
The four were initially charged under Section 214A of the Crimes Act, which pertains to “serious disruption or obstruction of a major facility,” carrying a maximum of two years in prison.
A total of 133 individuals were charged under the NSW Government’s 2022 anti-protest laws during the 2024 blockade. With the not-guilty verdict for four protesters, the remaining 129 individuals charged under 21A, who are scheduled to appear in court, may also achieve a similar not-guilty outcome.
The defense team plans to make an application for costs before the court in February.
Rising Tide spokesperson Zack Schofield told City Hub said the verdict was a significant victory for the peaceful protest.
“It’s appropriate that the magistrate found that Rising Tide members who engaged in peaceful, symbolic protest were not guilty of NSW’s draconian anti-protest laws,” said Schofield. “These laws were designed to silence political dissent and protest, but Chris Minns needs to learn that you cannot arrest your way out of a climate crisis.”
Schofield said, “Premier Minns can expect to see increasing numbers of people continue to protest until our government starts seriously funding the transition away from coal and acting with the urgency commensurate to this crisis.”
Advocates call for all charges against Rising Tide protesters to be dropped
“The police have spent enough time, money and resources on these charges. The Police as prosecutors must act in the public interest, and the public interest – and the interests of justice – can only be served if these charges are withdrawn,” says Dr. Josh Pallas, Legal Director of Climate Defenders Australia.
“We represent 50 arrestees from the 2024 Blockade with the same charges and similar facts as the cases that the court dismissed yesterday. Following the court’s decision, we call on the Police to promptly withdraw all s 214A charges against the Rising Tide Arrestees.”
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) held their Annual General Meeting on October 22, during which they passed a resolution which also called on the NSW Police to withdraw the anti-protest charges against the remaining 130 people arrested.
“These laws are a weapon of repression of political speech and they must not be pursued further. The right to protest is fundamental in a democracy and this government’s efforts to stop protests and criminalise and demonise protestors at all costs should be of deep concern to all,” said NSWCCL President Timothy Roberts.
“These laws should never have been passed at all. Bad laws are leading to bad outcomes in courts and a huge waste of resources to the public.
“It should not be a crime to engage in non-violent direct action. Instead of listening to thousands of attendees at Rising Tide, the NSW Government has continued to pass more laws criminalising protest.
“It has now been proven in court that the NSW Police cannot substantiate the claims they have made against those charged at Rising Tide, there is absolutely no community benefit in prosecutors continuing with the charges against the other 130 people.”
Rising Tide to return to Newcastle Harbour
Rising Tide is expected to return to Newcastle Harbour in November, where thousands are rumored to be joining another People’s Blockade.
The group calls for the Port of Newcastle to step in and suspend coal ship movements during the protest weekend, since the port doesn’t have “the social licence to continue business-as-usual whilst there is no real plan for a fair transition away from coal.”
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