Victorian grandfather Ronald Cuthbertson granted bail for Rising Tide Newcastle protest
A 73-year-old grandfather has been granted bail after allegedly chaining himself to coal equipment during Rising Tide protests at the weekend, telling court he acted out of concern for future generations.
A 73-year-old Rising Tide protestor who was concerned for future generations after being one of sixteen people to allegedly chain himself to coal equipment in Newcastle has been granted bail.
Ronald Cuthbertson travelled from Victoria to take part with thousands of other climate change activists in Newcastle’s Rising Tide People’s Blockade of the world’s largest coal port over the weekend.
Protestors took part in a flotilla blockade which caused three coal ships to turn around and disrupted export of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of coal which saw more than 140 people arrested.
On the final day of protests on Monday, eight people allegedly locked themselves on to two coal loaders and another eight people locked onto conveyer belts at Kooragang Island at the Port of Newcastle before they were arrested by police.
Cuthbertson was among those arrested and he was charged with enter/remain on major facility to seriously disrupt use. He has not yet entered a plea.
In Bail Court on Tuesday, he made a bid for release which was opposed by the police prosecutor.
She cited while he had no criminal convictions on his record from Victoria, and NSW and just a fine in Queensland, he displayed a pattern of behaviour from previous offences in Victoria and now in NSW.
The court heard he attended the Rising Tide event and allegedly chained himself to a restricted area before police had to use cutting tools to release him, causing major disruptions to coal operations and a significant risk to both himself, police and other workers.
It was also heard his arrest was all captured on body worn video and was a “strong case”.
But defence solicitor Trish Kashyup argued her client was “particularly vulnerable” with a heart condition and had responsibilities to care for his wife who was on a disability pension as well as for his children, who were back in Victoria.
The court heard Cuthbertson was “quite emotional” about his reasoning for allegedly scaling the coal equipment.
He was concerned for future generations due to climate change and believed it was his responsibility to do something because it was his generation that caused the problem.
Ms Kashyup said it was a non-violent protest and there was no harm to individuals or the community.
Magistrate Elizabeth Bushby said there were risks associated with his conduct but she granted him bail with conditions attached.
Those included not to enter Newcastle except for the purposes of attending court and not to enter any port in Australia.
Cuthbertson’s matter was adjourned until December 12 to link up with an existing unrelated matter.
Originally published as Victorian grandfather Ronald Cuthbertson granted bail for Rising Tide Newcastle protest
