Coalateral damage: Anti-coal protesters face $1000 fines for Port of Newcastle blockade
Anti-coal protesters face fines exceeding $1000 for the first time as Transport for NSW imposes a maritime exclusion zone around Newcastle Port ahead of this weekend's planned blockade.
Anti-coal protesters vowing to take to “blockade” the Port of Newcastle this weekend will for the first time face fines of more than $1000 if they get too close to shipping lanes.
Transport for NSW has imposed a maritime exclusion zone at the port this weekend, coinciding with Rising Tide’s so-called People’s Blockade of the coal port.
The exclusion zone is designed to prevent water-bound protesters entering or paddling near shipping lanes.
A similar exclusion zone was last year overturned by the courts.
Rising Tide organiser Zach Schofield said the group would not try to challenge the exclusion zone this year, but would still “be out on the water”.
People will be prevented from entering an area approximately 100m off the shore of Horseshoe Beach.
Mr Schofield refused to say whether Rising Tide was advising protesters to steer clear of the no-go zones on the water.
“We are making sure that every person who comes knows exactly what their legal rights and responsibilities are,” he said.
Police Minister Yasmin Catley told ABC Newcastle that the exclusion zone had been imposed to keep protesters safe.
She told protesters to “listen to the directions of police,” and said Rising Tide could not be trusted to not breach the law.
“Last year, there was a cornered off area, but these protesters flouted that.
“They said that they would stick within the rules, but they flouted those rulings, and it became dangerous,” she said.
NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee accused Rising Tide of “planning dangerous on-water protests intended to trigger mass arrests”.
He welcomed the exclusion zone declaration “in support of public safety.”
Rising Tide organisers expect “thousands” of people to take part in the protest this weekend.
The event has already cost the Hunter economy almost $1 million in economic activity, forcing cruise company Viking to cancel two planned visits to Newcastle.
Earlier this month, a Viking spokeswoman said that the company had decided to cancel “two scheduled calls” because there was a “possibility” the protests “could impact our scheduled shore excursion program”.
At the time, Hunter Business Chamber chief executive Bob Hawes said the ships being cancelled would cost the Newcastle economy $800,000 in lost revenue, based on how much money cruise passengers spend in port.
“That’s a direct injection into the local economy, and … sometimes those impacts are very local, is significant,” he said.
Last month, Rising Tide protesters spray-painted the words “TAX ME” on the side of a coal vessel coming into the port.
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Originally published as Coalateral damage: Anti-coal protesters face $1000 fines for Port of Newcastle blockade
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