Defiant Rising Tide organisers have labelled the 2025 People’s Blockade a success, after turning away several coal ships from the Port of Newcastle.
Across Saturday 29 November and Sunday 30 November, more than 140 people were arrested during the “protestival”, which saw nearly 7,000 attendees.
Of those detained, 18 were juveniles, dealt with under the Young Offenders Act, while 121 adults were charged with various offences under the Crimes and Marine Safety Acts.
Despite the arrests, organiser Zack Schofield said the event was a triumphant achievement.
“I’m a Newcastle boy and everyone knows that on every given weekend you have a dozen or more coal ships come in and out of Newcastle,” he said.
“We had two across the weekend and we turned three around.
“I’d call that a successful blockade.”
The Newcastle Weekly reported the NSW Minerals Council stated the event amounted to “nought”.
“As expected, [today] the Rising Tide event organisers have once again displayed a total disregard for public safety,” said CEO Stephen Galilee.
“There’s been a collision with a police vessel, an alleged assault within the protest camp and, as predicted, mass arrests of people who have chosen to break the law.
“Rising Tide’s actions caused two cruise liners to cancel planned stops at the Port, costing the Hunter economy almost a million dollars.
“At least two other non-coal-related vessels were also prevented from entering the area.
“While any disruption to coal exports will be minimal and temporary, the damage to Rising Tide’s credibility is significant and permanent.”
However, Mr Schofield was not fazed by the claims.
“The Minerals Council has a vested interest in scamming and screwing over Hunter workers,” he said.
“Of course they’re going to say it had no impact.
“But, I think more and more Australians are waking up to the fact that these industries are not only destroying the planet, they’re also preparing to destroy our communities when they collapse within the next 10 years.
“So, we are demanding funding for those workers, and we want those corporations to pay for it.”
Mr Schofield explained Rising Tide had requested Port of Newcastle reschedule shipping movements across the two days at the weekend, to which they allegedly did not comply.
“If they did that, there would have been absolutely no reason to go into the shipping channel,” he said.
“Instead of making that happen, the NSW Government decided their strategy would be not to reschedule coal ships, not to tell us where the money is to fund the transition for Hunter workers but try to police us out of existence… and they failed in doing so.”
For more news stories:
- Changed traffic conditions slated on M1 Pacific Motorway extension
- Rising Tide’s efforts amounted to ‘nought’ says Minerals Council
- Hunter Valley winery among President’s Medal Award finalists
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