Operations at Australia coal port to resume on Dec 1 after climate protest disruption
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Protesters taking part in the Rising Tide People’s Blockade at Horseshoe Beach in Newcastle on Nov 30.
PHOTO: EPA
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SYDNEY - One of Australia’s biggest coal export ports will resume operations on Dec 1, the port operator said, after climate-change protesters disrupted shipping at the Port of Newcastle for a second day on Nov 30.
Climate activist group Rising Tide, which claimed responsibility for the action, said hundreds of activists in kayaks paddled into the shipping lane of on the morning of Nov 30, violating an exclusion zone.
The port, 170km north of the state capital Sydney, is the largest bulk shipping port on the east coast of Australia, a nation where climate change is a divisive issue.
“Vessel ops will resume tomorrow as scheduled,” a Port of Newcastle spokesperson said late on Nov 30, after general cargo movements, including alumina bound for Australia’s largest aluminium smelter, Tomago, were aborted due to the protest.
Rising Tide said more than 100 protesters were arrested on Nov 30.
Police did not immediately respond to a request to confirm the number, but said in an earlier statement that 21 people were arrested and charged with “alleged marine-related offences” at the protest.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific said three of its activists climbed onto a coal ship near the port, stopping it from operating, as part of the “peaceful protest”.
“Greenpeace, alongside Rising Tide and thousands of everyday people, are taking actions big and small this weekend,” Greenpeace Australia Pacific head of climate and energy Joe Rafalowicz said in a statement.
On Nov 29, a protest at Newcastle forced an inbound ship to turn back and police made 11 arrests.
A similar multi-day climate action occurred in 2024 when 170 protesters were arrested.
Coal is one of Australia’s top commodity exports, along with iron ore.
Australia’s government has committed to reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. REUTERS
