The 71 foot proa "Gaia's Dream" takes part in the coal blockade

 

For more images go to http://drop.io/risingtide

A mass community protest at the biggest coal port in the world has succeeded in preventing coal ship movements all day today. Hundreds of peaceful protesters have occupied the harbour since 10am this morning. As the blockade closes, organisers are hailing it a success.

Naomi Hodgson, spokesperson for organisers Rising Tide Newcastle, said: “Today was scheduled to be a busy day in the world's busiest coal port. Ordinarily, there would have been at least four or five coal ships move in or out of Newcastle Harbour today, but instead there were none.

“This an amazing demonstration of the power of peaceful mass action by the community. Hundreds of people united to protest the rapid expansion of the Australian export coal industry – this country's number one cause of climate change.”

“We succeeded in not only shutting down the harbour, but in showing the political leaders in this country exactly what true leadership on climate change looks like. If Australia is serious about climate change, we will put an urgent stop to the expansion of coal, and begin replacing this devastating industry with safe and renewable alternatives.”

“Coal exports are the number one cause of climate change in Australia. The coal we export from NSW and Queensland already accounts for more greenhouse pollution that all onshore sources combined,” concluded Ms Hodgson.

 

Why blockade the world's biggest coal port?

Now, more than ever, we need to be turning up the heat on the coal industry, and their friends in government. The export coal industry is Australia's single biggest, and fastest growing contribution to the global climate crisis.

Newcastle, already the world's biggest coal port, is opening a major new coal export terminal over the course of this year, bringing the export capacity of the Hunter Valley coal chain to an incredible 178 million tonnes of coal per annum. That's the climate change equivalent of 30 Bayswater Power Stations.  Within ten years, the coal corporations plan on exporting more than 300 million tonnes of coal per annum - a tripling of current export capacity.

Tripling coal exports means tripling coal mining. As Newcastle coal exports boom, more precious bushland will be razed, more waterways polluted, more communities ripped apart as the transnational coal companies carve their way westwards into the Liverpool Plains. The profits will be exported, but the devastation will stay here in the Hunter. The catastrophic effects of climate change will hurt all around the world.

This madness has to stop. The climate crisis is deepening, and time is fast running out. Politicians are failing to take action against the rampant coal companies, so we have to do it ourselves.

Hundreds of people will be doing just that in Newcastle on 28^th March, and we'd love you to join us. We'll be taking to the harbour in a big way, occupying the world's biggest coal port with a mass of people, and demanding:

• an immediate ban on the expansion of the coal industry in Australia,
• a swift phase out of coal, replacing all coal industry jobs with jobs in renewable energy and other sustainable industries.