Activists shut down world's biggest coal port

Two climbers hanging from the NCIG coal terminal in Newcastle: Photo by Conor Ashleigh www.conorashleigh.com

For more images click here.

5:30am, Sunday 26th September 2010: Global warming activists have shut down operations at all three coal terminals in the Port of Newcastle, Australia, the world's largest exporter of coal.

At dawn this morning, teams of people entered the three coal terminals in Newcastle. The activists climbed to the top of large ship loading machines, and abseiled part-way down structural cables that suspend the loaders over coal ships. The ship loaders can't be operated without endangering the climbers, who are determined to stay there for as long as possible.

UPDATES:

8:30am: Thirty two people have just walked on to a coal storage area in Newcastle, Australia, joining eight other protesters who shut down the world's biggest coal port at dawn this morning. Forty four people are now occupying coal export facilities in Newcastle Harbour.

Police and port authorities have shut down all shipping operations, and all coal loading activities have been forced to cease due to the protest activity. 

9:45am: The first two arrests have been made. Two people locked on to a coal loader at Carrington Coal Terminal have been cut off and taken into custody.

11:30am: Three more arrests have been made. The first two climbers have been removed by crane, and taken into custody.

1pm: The people who locked on to the coal loaders at Carrington have been charged with Enter and Remain on Enclosed Lands.

1:30pm The next two climbers have been removed, by crane, from the NCIG coal terminal.

1:45pm: We just found out that that Port Waratah Coal Services (controlled by Xstrata and Rio Tinto) will be seeking $97,000 in "victims compensation".

12:00pm: The thirty two people who occupied the coal stockpiles at NCIG have been arrested. Police are releasing them without charge, at this stage.

The 41 arrested include:

•       32 people who occupied the coal storage area at one of Newcastle's three coal terminals. These people were arrested by police and then released without charge. [Edit - we originally said 36 people were in this group, but it was in fact 32].
•       4 people who locked themselves to ship-loading machinery using metal locking devices. These people were cut off by Police Rescue officers, taken into custody, and charged with Enter and Remain on Enclosed Lands (two charges each).
•       5 people who abseiled from the top of ship-loading machines. These people were removed by Police Rescue officers in cranes. The final climber was removed at about 3pm. Climbers were charged with Enter and Remain on Enclosed Lands (two charges).

3:00pm:

The final person has been removed from a coal terminal in Newcastle, 9 and a half hours after activists completely closed down operations at all three coal terminals in the world's biggest coal port.

Annika Dean, spokesperson for the protest organisers, Rising Tide Newcastle, explained the group's motivations: “We are staging an emergency intervention into Australia's number one cause of global warming.”

“Around the world, the early impacts of unabated global warming are beginning to emerge. 2010 has been a year of tragic weather disasters.”

“Thousands of people have died this year due to flash floods in Pakistan and China, and fires in Siberia. Millions of people are facing starvation due to a devastating drought in west Africa. These are the impacts of global warming that scientists have been warning us about for decades. Global warming is happening now, and it is killing people.”

“Australia is a major contributor to this crisis, due to the massive volumes of coal we export. We are  exporting global warming to the world. With the support of both Labor and the Coalition, Australia's coal exports are booming. Here in Newcastle, already the world's biggest coal port, multinational mining corporations are planning to triple exports over the next decade. It's a similar story at all coal ports in the country.”

“Urgent action against global warming is needed. We have been forced to make our dramatic protest today because the Federal government is failing to take any action.”

“We call on Prime Minister Gillard to step up to the challenge of global warming, put an immediate moratorium on the expansion of the coal industry, and begin to replace this outdated industry with the renewable industries of the future,” concluded Ms Dean.