More protests as Galilee Blockade target northside concrete company

A 75-year-old woman is one of three protesters arrested at an anti-Adani blockade of a business in Brisbane’s inner north this morning.

Three protesters have been taken away by police following a two-hour standoff with police at a concrete plant in Brisbane’s inner north.

Activists turned up at Meales Concrete Pumping at Windsor early this morning because of the work it does at Adani’s Abbot Point Coal terminal.

Rae Sheridan was one of three people arrested following this morning’s protest. Picture: Andrea Macleod

The plan was to prevent trucks entering or leaving the site, and they had vowed to stay until they were arrested.

Rae Sheridan, 75, Ben Pennings, 47, and John Brinnand were arrested for obstructing a business premises about 9.30am and taken by officers into a nearby van.

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Mrs Sheridan’s husband John said his wife had been arrested four times.

“I’ve been arrested five times and she’s been arrested four,” the 77-year-old said

“It’s a necessary thing we have to do. What else we can do?”

“We write submissions, we march and do all sorts of things and vote and it leads to very little. We just have to continue this fight because it is so important.

In the past five years he and wife Rae have taken to the streets because “Rae and I love nature and we love our children and grandchildren and they have a right to a good chance in life”.

Tearing up, he said he was “quite devastated” at the Government’s inaction on climate change.

“We’re in a climate emergency now. The situation is that it is going to get a lot, lot worse (if we do nothing),” he said.

“The temperature is going to continue going up, the oceans are going to become more acidic, the destruction will be greater – we may well have passed the point – it may well be too late but we just have to try.”

An earlier statement Galilee Blockade said the company had worked on the Abbot Point Coal Terminal and their vehicles had appeared in a recent promotional video from Indian mining giant Adani.

Police oversee a protest by Galilee Blockade protesters at a Brisbane concrete plant. Picture: Adam Head.

In the statement, group spokesman John Brinnand said their practice of naming and shaming Adani’s contractors would continue.

“Our campaign asking Australians to dob-in Adani contractors has been a massive success,” Mr Brinnand said.

“Hundreds will start converging in Central Queensland to disrupt mine construction while many thousands target Adani contractors around the country.”

Anti-Adani protesters at a concrete plant at Windsor. Picture: Andrea Macleod

The statement said that Meales Concrete Pumping had been “pressured” for weeks to drop contracts with Adani.

It said “concerned citizens” would block trucks from entering and exiting until arrested.

Leader of the Opposition Deb Frecklington took to social media to convey her disgust at the protest.

“This is getting ridiculous. This is a direct attack on people’s jobs and livelihoods,” she said.

It follows weeks of disruption to peak hour commutes through Brisbane’s CBD, in which protesters have blocked intersections and glued themselves to city streets.

This is getting ridiculous. This is a direct attack on people’s jobs and livelihoods. @LNPQLD have a bill before the house which will see the book thrown at people who deliberately sabotage legitimate businesses like this #qldpol #auspol https://t.co/ldCTJCACqh

— Deb Frecklington MP (@DebFrecklington) July 21, 2019

Police had asked for one truck to be let out, as it was scheduled to do urgent work at a nursing home.