Newcastle: 2024
In the third action of the day, Andrew (67) has boarded a train and is stopping all freight movement in and out of the World’s largest coal port in Newcastle.
Andrew’s action comes as part of Blockade Australia’s prolonged incapacitation of the Hunter coal supply chain, which has so far caused upwards of 60 hours of disruption to one of Australia’s biggest extractive operations.
“I’m stopping coal trains for my granddaughter’s generation”
“The science around climate is conclusive and we need to act now, the sooner we act the more we can address this collapse”
Big business, media monopolies, parliament, fossil fuel companies – the institutions that govern power on this continent are killing the world. At this point in history, to defend everything that is important to us, we have to go after the system in its entirety.
Okay, Day 9 and it’s been a wild evening!
2pm: After Luke’s morning action, Heike jumps on a coal train halting trains in and out of the Newcastle Coal Port.
11pm: Skye climbs into a tree-sit tied to the rail, blocking traffic for a solid 5 hours. She is kept company on her livestream by a few passionate supporters from around the world over night.
4.30am: Nate steps in at dawn for the next 3 hours, hanging from a bipod over 2-mile creek bridge leading into the world’s largest coal port.
Our message is simple: the planet’s life support systems are in crisis. The systemic machine we call Australia is driving us into a catastrophic climate collapse through rampant resource extraction and expansion.
#BlockadeAustralia is a growing network that knows direct action is effective when it’s targeted and sustained as it challenges power where it operates on the ground.
As long as Australia continues to exploit this continent and those who call it home, our resistance will continue.
Luke, a 35-year-old ecology student and expectant father, ushered in DAY 8 of #BlockadeAustralia ‘s sustained campaign of disruption at the Port of Newcastle.
Luke was suspended up a tree with a line of rope that was also attached to the rail. He was arrested after being lowered from the tree and is now in police custody.
“I’ve knocked on doors and i’ve written to my MPs, been to rallies in the cities, I’ve voted, I’ve donated to NGOs. I work in environmental regeneration, I’m an ecologist, I’m studying ecology and I’m having a child in a few months (big smile). None of that stuff’s working. My child’s future isn’t looking any rosier. It’s not individual politicians – it’s the system.”
“We’re all future ancestors, and as future ancestors, I think we should be thinking about what kind of legacy we’re going to leave.”
Aahana has refused police bail due to repressive bail conditions that cut contact with her community via non-associations with any “#BlockadeAustralia activists”. She has a support person and is being transferred to a youth detention centre until her hearing. We stand with her in solidarity and care.
Like she said today, “I’m not taking this action to get arrested, this is the systems response… The system was always intended to benefit a small group of people. The state eradicates dissent… it puts profit over people, commodity over community.”
“WE are centred in hope, storytelling and solidarity – but we must get organised”
If you can, please support our Legal Fund for the 17 arrestees.
Aahana (17) takes bold action this morning, hanging from a bipod at a pinch-point into the Port of Newcastle. We believe she is still there 3+ hours later, after locking onto the structure when search and rescue cops arrived.
She shares some potent words,
“I extend my respect and solidarity to all Indigenous communities fighting for liberation. The nation state of Australia is responsible for not only the massacre of Indigenous people on this continent but across the globe.”
“98% of Australia’s trade is through the ports. I’m disrupting corporate and institutional power, the foundation of Australia’s system. Disruptive tactics have always been employed, and are always criticised as extremist and counter intuitive. Despite this, the status quo celebrates many wins of the same disruptive tactics, attributing the successes to the framework of liberal democracy and the more passive reformist movement.”
“I’m totally disabled from participating in our “so-called democracy” but still expected to be compliant with all the evidence that suggests we need to take action – strategically and urgently.”
“We are living with finite resources but this system works towards infinite extraction. Blockade Australia immobilises key infrastructure on the ground where power is manufactured. I believe nothing happens without people. I want to use myself, as a person, to take action.”
13 actions and counting… we must #BlockadeAustralia!
As the sun rose this morning hanging from a single rope over a tree a daring activist introduced themselves:
“I’m Jasmine, I’m on the stolen land of the Wonnarua people, where sovereignty was never ceded. I am hanging from a tree sit attached to a monopole which is blocking all trains going into and out of the Newcastle coal port.”
As confused rail workers and later police scratched their heads while examining the structure she was suspended by. Jasmine sat tight and blocked the system that is destroying us.
“I feel like direct action is the only way forward. Reforms and anything that is in line with the system, touted by the system, is never going to serve the people.”
As the landscape was blanketed with rays of morning light, like the hope Jasmine represented, she, explained the centrality of the crisis:
“This isn’t just about coal, it’s so much more, it’s the system in general that’s allowing not just climate collapse but a slow societal collapse, while the politicians and people in power only worry about themselves.”
The climate collapse is one disaster out of many that the system has generated from it’s first principles. As more and more violence is mercilessly perpetrated against our climate and the world, engaging in direct action that stands up boldly, to block the system is essential.
Jasmine held strong blocking the fuel of the system for over two hours.
On our 5th consecutive day of action blocking the Port of Newcastle, Grace hangs from a bipod over a rail bridge with a banner that reads, “the system is rigged, not broken.”
Grace is right… environmental disasters, climate change, pollution and inequality are not mistakes – they are symptoms of a system built to exploit, to benefit those in power over the many.
The system is working just as intended. Politicians, corporations and the rich profit from the exploitation of people and planet because it’s in their job description.
She says, “I don’t think I’d be able to look at myself, if I wasn’t doing something.”
If you agree, join the resistance!
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