Climate protester Laura Davy wins appeal to scrap jail sentence after shutting down Port of Newcastle

A young Tasmanian woman jailed after causing a disruption at the Port of Newcastle – part of a series of climate protests co-ordinated by Blockade Australia – has appealed her sentence.

Laura Davy had her appeal granted at Newcastle District Court on Tuesday. Picture: Amy Ziniak

A young Tasmanian woman jailed after shutting down a large piece of machinery and causing a disruption at the world’s biggest coal port has had her sentence quashed.

Laura Davy was one of more than 30 people arrested as part of a sustained campaign of disruption over a two-week period across June and July, where a number of climate activists believed to be from Blockade Australia brought the Port of Newcastle to a grinding halt in a series of incidents.

The 21-year-old shut down a Stacker Reclaimer at Kooragang in the early hours on July 7 before being arrested by police.

She was charged with entering inclosed non-agricultural lands, serious safety risk and entering or remaining on major facility seriously disrupting its use.

Laura Davy ‘s 3 month jail sentence was quashed. Blockade Australia.

Davy pleaded guilty to both charges in Newcastle Local Court the following day and was sentenced to three months in jail and a fine of $1100. She instantly appealed and was granted bail.

Blockade Australia claimed she was the first to be sentenced under the “harsh” anti-protest laws introduced in 2022 which the organisation said were introduced to “stifle protests in NSW” and faced huge backlash from activists and civil society for being anti-democratic in nature.

At the time of the sentence, Blockade Australia was outraged by the outcome and said she was one of many young people that took part to “confront the system that is putting her future in jeopardy”.

But after the 21-year-old fronted Newcastle’s District Court on Tuesday and had her appeal heard, she was free to go with her sentence quashed by Judge Roy Ellis.

She instead received a conditional release order for a period of 12 months with conviction and an $800 fine.

At the time of her action, Davy said she was just a “piece of the puzzle” vowing to stand up in the face of climate collapse.

“We can either sit back and watch the world around us crumble or we can stand up now and put our minds and bodies to work however we can and catch the pieces as they fall,” she said.

Samuel Gribben part of Port of Newcastle protests in June/July 2024 – he scaled a railway track at Sandgate and was jailed for one month – an appeal was successful and he received a CRO. Blockade Australia

The result follows another successful appeal by 21-year-old Samuel Gribben from Sydney who was also jailed in July for a period of one month after he suspended himself above a railway track at Sandgate, blocking coal train movements.

In Newcastle District Court last month he had his one month jail sentence reduced to a six month conditional release order with no conviction recorded.