The Australian Conservation Foundation has taken to the stand of the Supreme Court of NSW today to support Rising Tide as NSW Police attempts to stop the Newcastle group’s Paddle for the Planet, which is scheduled for this Saturday.
Last night Newcastle Council declared it would no longer licence or authorise the use of council land for Rising Tide protests.
“Throughout history people have used public protest to change the world for the better,” said ACF spokesperson Jolene George.
“Protesting – on the streets and on the water of Australia’s biggest coal port – is one way democracies progress when powerful interests and governments are not listening to the people.
“The right to public protest is vitally important to a healthy democracy.
“Protest shines a light on double standards and hypocrisy.
“While Australia’s Energy Minister and Prime Minister are talking up Australia’s climate credentials at the UN climate conference in Türkiye, our country remains one of the biggest exporters of coal and gas – fuelling climate breakdown.
“It’s worth remembering the disruption caused by protests is pretty insignificant compared with the disruption climate damage is imposing on Australians’ lives through unseasonal bushfires, devastating droughts, more extreme storms and worsening flash floods, that harm predominantly the elderly and other vulnerable people in our society.
“There are many ways to make positive change. Change happens on the streets, on the harbour, in the courts, in polling booths, newsrooms, boardrooms and community halls. It happens in workplaces, gardens and in conversations with friends. Different people and groups have different roles in creating a better future.
“ACF will do everything it can within the law to stop climate damage and extinction.”
ACF’s relationship with Rising Tide goes back a long way. In 2010 ACF gave the Peter Rawlison Award, a prize for grassroots environmental action, to Rising Tide for ‘tirelessly and fearlessly drawing attention to the looming climate crisis.’
