Extinction Rebellion: Dr Scott Bell, Pr Jeff McKinnon charged again
Extinction Rebellion protesters, including a Tasmanian Senior Australian of the Year nominee and a retiring pastor, have been charged with trespass for the second time in a week.
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Extinction Rebellion protesters, including an Australian of the Year nominee and a retiring pastor, have been charged with trespass for the second time in a week.
Dr Scott Bell, a retired GP who is a Tasmanian nominee for Senior Australian of the year, Pr Jeff McKinnon, a pastor of more than a decade at City Baptist Church, and Graham Bailey were all charged with trespass following Wednesday’s climate protest at NAB Launceston.
About 10 people placarded the branch as part of Extinction Rebellion Northern Tasmania’s (XRNT) rolling protests against the ‘Big 4’ banks’ continued “funding (of) fossil fuel extraction”.
Placards held out the front of the branch included: ‘Banks profit before people’, ‘Banks funding extinction’, and ‘Banks burning our future’. The people holding these signs were not charged with any offences.
A picture uploaded by XRNT to social media depicted Mr Bailey and Pr McKinnon sitting inside the bank with protest signage.
Social media pictures also depicted four Tasmania Police officers escorting the pair plus Dr Bell out of the branch.
The trio were granted police bail to appear in Launceston Magistrates Court on January 25.
The protest came a week after similar action at Commonwealth Bank Launceston.
On that occasion, Dr Bell and Pr McKinnon, as well as a third person, Helen Hutchinson, were again escorted out of the bank by officers. All three were charged with trespass and bailed to appear in Launceston Magistrates Court on January 11, ACM reported.
At the December 1 protest, Mr Bailey told 7NEWS, “We’re trying to highlight the banks’ involvement in the fossil fuel problem we’ve got.”
“We think they could quite easily stop funding fossil fuels and move that towards renewable energy,” he said.
Mr Bailey and Dr Bell have been involved in previous protests.
Tasmanian Times reported that on November 3 last year, the pair were arrested three times in Launceston CBD as part of rolling protest action.
Dr Bell’s profile on the Australian of the Year Awards website notes he is “so passionate about saving our wildlife and the planet he’s been arrested nine times and convicted four times for peacefully protesting for what he believes in”.
The December 1 protest came the day before Sydney activist Deanna ‘Violet’ Coco, 31, was jailed for a minimum of eight months for driving a hire truck on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and blocking a lane during peak hour on April 13, causing 25 minutes of delays.
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