Extinction Rebellion: Protesters have never been to the town they are fighting for

While they were willing to hold up traffic and waste police resources in Sydney’s CBD, a number of Extinction Rebellion protesters have never been to the town they are advocating for.

Many of the Extinction Rebellion protesters who brought Sydney’s CBD to a standstill on Monday morning to complain about gas fields have never been to Narrabri, the town they were supposedly advocating for.

Dozens of colourfully dressed protesters stood holding banners, beating drums and shouting slogans at the entrance to the office of Australia’s biggest gas company APA Group, from just after 8am.

NSW Police arrested five people, three who glued themselves to the road and another two who stuck their hands in heavy concrete barrels.

Extinction Rebellion protest blockades the CBD on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

In particular they were protesting against the Western Slopes Pipeline, a $500 million project that will see gas lines connected from Narrabri to Sydney.

The 460-kilometre long pipeline was approved by the Independent Planning Commission last September.

But despite some of the protesters being willing to glue themselves to the road for the cause, when asked by The Daily Telegraph if they had ever been to Narrabri - or even if they knew where it was - many said no.

UK-born protester Kellie Shields said she had not been to the state’s north, but claimed those arrested had been - and offered that as an excuse for their behaviour.

“I haven’t personally (been to Narrabri) but I know a lot of us have, the two who are being cut out (of the concrete barrels) have so I think that’s probably the reason they feel so strongly,” she said.

The protest blockade was largely against a gas pipeline in Narrabri. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Another not to have been to the town was Matthew Abourzk who lives in Sydney’s inner-west, who said the Extinction Rebellion group was acting as an “outlet” that would allow the local community to be heard.

The protest brought traffic and public transport to a halt at the intersection of Bathurst and George Streets.

It also led to delays throughout the CBD for more than two hours, with the route 503 bus needing to detour and subsequently miss three stops.

It led one motorist to drive through a banner being held up across the road before stopping just short of the protesters lying on the bitumen.

Police say the protesters wasted hours of police time and resources. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

NSW Police Acting Superintendent Paul Dunstan said the group had not applied for a permit ahead of time and slammed then for wasting police resources.

“These type of antics are occurring all around the world by this particular organisation, so we are prepared to deal with this type of antices,” Act Supt Dunstan said.

“There’s a device inside the concrete blocks whereby they could have chosen to release themselves at any time, but unfortunately they’ve wasted two hours of police time and resources.”