In Australia, climate activists have disrupted rail shipments into the Port of Newcastle for an 11th consecutive day, in a nonviolent direct action campaign aimed at halting exports from the world’s largest coal port. Some of the activists have locked their bodies to rail cars and railroad tracks, while others suspended themselves on platforms or giant tripods in the path of trains, forcing long delays as police struggled to remove them. At least 19 people have been arrested on charges that could see some of them jailed for up to 25 years. On Tuesday, activists suspended themselves from massive pieces of machinery, halting operations in the coal port.
Blockade Australia activist: “I’m taking this action on the stolen land of the Worimi and the Awabakal people. This land was never ceded over by these people, and Australia has been committing genocide against the First People of this land for 250 years now. Australia has been brutalizing the First People, has been brutalizing the land and the water.”