Just 100 climate activists block street for Adelaide Extinction Rebellion protest
Only a handful of activists turned up for a low-key climate change “rebellion” which pledged to block traffic in Adelaide’s CBD — in stark contrast to the bizarre scenes and chaos in other cities.
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Just over 100 climate activists have turned up in Adelaide to follow through on a threat to block a major CBD street as part of week-long global protests.
Members of the Extinction Rebellion group gathered near the Central Markets on Gouger St early this afternoon at the same time as more rowdy protests occurred in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
About 20 protesters held banners across the road on restaurant strip at around lunch time.
One carried a banner apologising to the motorists delayed by the stunt.
Over the course of about three hours, the protestors performed “traffic swarms”, where members would stand on the road for two minutes at a time at three different points in the afternoon as part of the week-long global protest movement.
Extinction Rebellion member Charmaine Thredgold said protestors had been trained on how to handle being arrested, and its consequences.
“There are a lot of people that are older and willing to put their bodies on the line,” Ms Thredgold said.
Another member Peta Page said no one was arrested in Adelaide but police did threaten on-the-spot fines.
“For a weekday, we’re pretty happy with that (turnout)” Ms Page said.
“Today we’ve chosen the Central Markets because we’re worried about the food and security into the future.”
Before the week’s protests kicked off, Extinction Rebellion member Indi Wishart, 26, who asked for the honorific Mx as a non-binary identification, said governments were not listening to activists, and was prepared to get arrested to prove the point.
“The time for petitions and marching has passed because it is not achieving anything,” Mx Wishart said.
Bizarre scenes in Brisbane
A man has been filmed dangling from Brisbane’s inner-city Story Bridge while others have concreted themselves into place.
Police were negotiating with the protester, who is livestreaming on the internet as he sits over the Brisbane River on what appears to be a hammock.
“I’m actually hanging underneath the Story Bridge,” the man said on the Facebook livestream.
“I’m up here for my daughters. There’s a climate emergency and our government hasn’t take sufficient action, really.” Police have indicated they are prepared to wait for him to return to solid ground.
Other protesters were photographed with their arms concreted inside large concrete drums. Police and firefighters, as well as some heavy duty hardware, were required to clear them from Brisbane streets.
Ex-Senator arrest at Sydney protest
A former Greens senator who was arrested in Sydney during a climate change protest says shutting down the demonstrations is like turning off the smoke alarm in a burning building.
Scott Ludlam was one of 38 people arrested on Monday as Extinction Rebellion protesters blocked roads to draw attention to climate change and its consequences at the start of a week-long series of events.
Environmental activists say they’ll keep putting their freedom on the line and risk being arrested until the federal government declares a “climate emergency”. Mr Ludlam — who was arrested as he sat on Broadway, one of Sydney’s busiest streets — will face court next month on a charge of failing to comply with a police direction.
The ex-politician on Tuesday described his bail conditions as “wild”. He’s banned from taking part in any further Extinction Rebellion events and can’t be within a 2.5-kilometre radius of Sydney Town Hall.
“I strongly disagree with the prohibition on entering a public event, but the 2.5km just seems remarkable to me,” Mr Ludlam told AAP.
The 49-year-old, who was bailed from police custody at 2.30am, added: “The case we are going to be putting to the court is that we are like the smoke alarm in a burning building.” “Shutting down the demonstrations, arresting people, trying to destroy the ability of people to organise is the equivalent of turning off the smoke alarm in your house,” he said.
Protesters dressed as bees swarmed Hyde Park on Tuesday declaring a “beemergency” before walking to Town Hall for a further demonstration.
Michele Radinovic, 33, from Sydney was among those arrested on Monday. Ms Radinovic on Tuesday said she was put in a “wristlock” and spoken to “quite aggressively” by officers.
She was shocked by how protesters were treated.
“(But) I’m willing to put my liberty on the line for this,” she told AAP. “This is the biggest issue of our time.”
In a message directed at the police, she said: “I just want to remind them that we are peaceful and we’re doing this for our future, for their children’s future.”
— AAP
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