SPECIAL REPORT: By Wendy Bacon

In a decision delivered last Thursday, Justice Desmond Fagan in the NSW Supreme Court ruled in favour of state police who applied to have the Rising Tide ‘Protestival’ planned from November 22 to 24 declared an “unauthorised assembly”.

Rising Tide has vowed to continue its protest. The grassroots movement is calling for an end to new coal and gas approvals and imposing a 78 percent tax on coal and gas export profits to fund and support Australian workers during the energy transition.

The group had submitted what is known as a “Form 1” to the police for approval for a 30-hour blockade of the port and a four-day camp on the foreshore.

• READ MORE: Other Australia coal and protest report
• COP29: Pacific countries cannot be conveniently pigeonholed

If approved, the protest could go ahead without police being able to use powers of arrest for offences such as “failure to move on” during the protest.

Rising Tide organisers expect thousands to attend of whom hundreds would enter the water in kayaks and other vessels to block the harbour.

Last year, a similar 24-hour blockade protest was conducted safely and in cooperation with police, after which 109 people refused to leave the water in an act of peaceful civil disobedience. They were then arrested without incident. Most were later given good behaviour bonds with no conviction recorded.

Following the judgment, Rising Tide organiser Zack Schofield said that although the group was disappointed, “the protestival will go ahead within our rights to peaceful assembly on land and water, which is legal in NSW with or without a Form 1.”

Main issue ‘climate pollution’
“The main public safety issue here is the climate pollution caused by the continued expansion of the coal and gas industries. That’s why we are protesting in our own backyard — the Newcastle coal port, scene of Australia’s single biggest contribution to climate change.”

In his judgment, Justice Desmond Fagan affirmed that protesting without a permit is lawful.

In refusing the application, he described the planned action as “excessive”.

“A 30-hour interruption to the operations of a busy port is an imposition on the lawful activities of others that goes far beyond what the people affected should be expected to tolerate in order to facilitate public expression of protest and opinion on the important issues with which the organisers are concerned,” he said.

During the case, Rising Tide’s barrister Neal Funnell argued that in weighing the impacts, the court should take into account “a vast body of evidence as to the cost of the economic impact of global warming and particularly the role the fossil fuel industry plays in that.“

But while agreeing that coal is “extremely detrimental to the atmosphere and biosphere and our future, Justice Fagan indicated that his decision would only take into account the immediate impacts of the protest, not “the economic effect of the activity of burning coal in power plants in whatever countries this coal is freighted to from the port of Newcastle”.

NSW Police argued that the risks to safety outweighed the right to protest.

Rising Tide barrister Neal Funnell told the court that the group did not deny that there were inherent risks in protests on water but pointed to evidence that showed police logs revealed no safety concerns or incidents during the 2023 protest.

Although he accepted the police argument about safety risks, Justice Fagan acknowledged that the “organisers of Rising Tide have taken a responsible approach to on-water safety by preparing very thorough plans and protocols, by engaging members of supportive organisations to attend with outboard motor driven rescue craft and by enlisting the assistance of trained lifeguards”.

The Court’s reasons are not to be understood as a direction to terminate the protest.

NSW government opposition
Overshadowing the case were statements by NSW Premier Chris Minns, who recently threatened to make costs of policing a reason why permits to protest could be refused.

Last week, Minns said the protest was opposed because it was dangerous and would impact the economy, suggesting further government action could follow to protect coal infrastructure.

“I think the government’s going to have to make some decisions in the next few weeks about protecting that coal line and ensuring the economy doesn’t close down as a result of this protest activity,” he said.

Greens MP and spokesperson for climate change and justice Sue Higginson, who attended last year’s Rising Tide protest, said, “ It’s the second time in the past few weeks that police have sought to use the court to prohibit a public protest event with the full support of the Premier of this State . . . ”

Higginson hit back at Premier Chris Minns: “Under the laws of NSW, it’s not the job of the Premier or the Police to say where, when and how people can protest. It is the job of the Police and the Premier to serve the people and work with organisers to facilitate a safe and effective event.

“Today, the Premier and the Police have thrown this obligation back in our faces. What we have seen are the tactics of authoritarian politics attempting to silence the people.

“It is telling that the NSW Government would rather seek to silence the community and protect their profits from exporting the climate crisis straight through the Port of Newcastle rather than support our grassroots communities, embrace the right to protest, take firm action to end coal exports and transition our economy.”

Limits of police authorised protests
Hundreds of protests take place in NSW each year using Form 1s. Many other assemblies happen without a Form 1 application. But the process places the power over protests in the hands of police and the courts.

In a situation in which NSW has no charter of human rights that protects the right to protest, Justice Fagan’s decision exposes the limits of the Form 1 approach to protests.

NSW Council for Civil Liberties is one of more than 20 organisations that supported the Rising Tide case.

In response to the prohibition order, its Vice-President Lidia Shelly said, “Rising Tide submitted a Form 1 application so that NSW Police could work with the organisers to ensure the safety of the public.

“The organisers did everything right in accordance with the law. It’s responsible and peaceful protesting. Instead, the police dragged the organisers to Court and furthered the public’s perception that they’re acting under political pressure to protect the interests of the fossil fuel industry.”

Shelly said, “In denying the Form 1, NSW Police have created a perfect environment for mass arrests of peaceful protestors to occur . . .

“The right to peaceful assembly is a core human right protected under international law. NSW desperately needs a state-based charter of human rights that protects the right to protest.

“The current Form 1 regime in New South Wales is designed to repress the public from exercising their democratic rights to protest. We reiterate our call to the NSW Government to repeal the draconian anti-protest laws, abolish the Form 1 regime, protect independent legal observers, and introduce a Human Rights Act that enshrines the right to protest.”

About 20,000 protesters marched through the heart of New Zealand’s largest city Auckland today demonstrating against the unpopular Fast Track Approvals Bill that critics fear will ruin the country’s environment, undermine the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi with indigenous Māori, and open the door to corruption.

Holding placards declaring the coalition government is “on the fast track to hell”, “Greedy lying racists”, “Preserve our reserves”, “Kill the bill”, “Climate justice now”, “I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues”, and other slogans such as “Ministers’ corruption = Nature’s destruction”, the protesters stretched 2km from Aotea Square down Queen St to the harbourside Te Komititanga Square.

One of the biggest banners, on a stunning green background, said “Toitu Te Tiriti: Toitu Te Taiao” — “Honour the treaty: Save the planet”.

• READ MORE: Fast track bill – thousands of protesters gather in Auckland
• More photos and videos here and here
• Other fast track bill reports

Speaker after speaker warned about the risks of the draft legislation placing unprecedented power in the hands of three cabinet ministers to fast track development proposals with limited review processes and political oversight.

The bill states that its purpose “is to provide a streamlined decision-making process to facilitate the delivery of infrastructure and development projects with significant regional or national benefits”.

A former Green Party co-leader, Russel Norman, who is currently Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director, said the the draft law would be damaging for the country’s environment. He called on the protesters to fight against it.

“We must stop those who would destroy nature for profit,” he said.

“The vast majority of New Zealanders — nine out of 10 people, when you survey them — say they do not want development that causes more destruction of nature.”

Other protesters on he march against the “War on Nature” included Forest and Bird chief executive Nicola Toki and actress Robyn Malcolm.

RNZ News reports that Norman said: “Expect resistance from the people of Aotearoa. There will be no seabed mining off the coast of Taranaki. There will be no new coal mines in pristine native forest.

“We will stop them — just like we stopped the oil exploration companies. We disrupted them until they gave up.”

The government would be on the wrong side of history if it ignored protesters, Norman said.

Public service job cuts ‘deeply distressing’
In Wellington, reports RNZ News, thousands of people congregated in the city to protest government cuts to public service jobs.

Protesters met at the Pukeahu National War Memorial for speeches before walking down to the waterfront.

Public Service Association spokesperson Fleur Fitzsimons told the crowd that everyone at the rally was sending a message of resistance, opposition and protest to the government.

She accused the coalition government of having an agenda against the public service, and said the union was seeing the destructive impact of government policies first hand.

“It is causing grief, anguish, stress, emotional collapse,” she said.

“It is deeply distressing to the workers who are losing their jobs. They are not only distressed for themselves, and their families, but they are deeply worried about what will happen to the important work they are doing on behalf of us all.”

From Whangārei in the north to Invercargill in the south, thousands took to the streets of Aotearoa New Zealand in today’s climate strike, RNZ News reports.

Hundreds marched on Parliament in Wellington.

But it was not just about the climate crisis — the day’s event was led by a coalition including Toitū Te Tiriti, Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, and School Strike 4 Climate.

• WATCH: Video report of the march on 1News
• Other NZ climate crisis reports

They had six demands:

• Keep the ban on oil and gas exploration,
• End the Fast Track Approvals Bill,
• Toitū te Tiriti o Waitangi,
• Climate education for all,
• Lower the voting age to 16, and
• “Free Palestine”

Palestine solidarity protesters called on the New Zealand government to expel the Israeli ambassador in protest over Tel Aviv’s conduct of the devastating Gaza war.

The UN Human Rights Council today adopted a resolution calling for Israel to be held accountable for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip.

It was a decisive vote with 28 in favour, 13 abstentions and six voting against, including Germany and the US.

An ACT New Zealand post on X stated that the School Strike 4 Climate was “encouraging kids across the country to wag school”.

‘Raise awareness’
School Strike 4 Climate organisers said their aim was to “raise awareness about the urgent need for climate action and to demand meaningful policy changes to combat the climate crisis”.

1News reports that one protester said she was attending today’s march in Auckland because she had a problem with the government’s approach to conservation.

“They’re dismantling previous rules that have been in place, they are picking up projects that have been previously turned down by the Environment Court . . .  and they’re doing it behind our back and the public has nothing to say, so they have become the predators,” she said.

Another protester said: “I’m terrified, because I know I’m going to die from climate change and the government is doing absolutely zero for it.”

This report is drawn from RNZ News reports and photographs under a community partnership and other sources.

The Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA) says it is “deeply concerned” at reports that Western Australian police are demanding the ABC hand over footage about climate protesters filmed as part of a Four Corners investigation.

“As researchers and teachers of journalism, we uphold the ethical obligation of journalists to honour any assurances given to protect sources,” said JERAA president Associate Professor Alexandra Wake in a statement.

“This obligation is imperative in supporting the Western democratic tradition of journalism and to investigative journalism in particular.”

• READ MORE: Media union condemns WA police demand for footage
• Escalation: Climate, protest and the fight for the future

The ABC case relates to an investigation due to be broadcast on Four Corners tonight: “Escalation: Climate, protest and the fight for the future”.

“I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life.” Video: ABC Four Corners

WA police are reported to have demanded footage via “Order to Produce” provisions of the WA Criminal Investigations Act. The law compels organisations to comply.

One of JERAA’s core aims was to promote freedom of expression and communication, said the statement.

“The association is concerned that the WA police action represents a direct threat to media freedom and the practice of ethical investigative journalism,” Dr Wake said.

“We join the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) in urging the ABC to stand firm and not hand over footage which could potentially undermine assurances by the Four Corners team to their sources.”

The union for Australian journalists said it was alarmed at the reports that WA police were demanding the ABC hand over footage featuring climate activists filmed as part of the television investigation before it had even aired.

• MEAA support petition for the ABC
• “Escalation” reported by Hagar Cohen goes to air tonight, Monday, 9 October 2023, at 8.30pm AEST on ABC TV and ABC iview.

A Dunedin climate activist has been sentenced to 125 hours of community work after writing a fake email saying that a petroleum industry conference in Aotearoa New Zealand had been postponed.

Rosemary Anne Penwarden, 64, was found guilty of forgery and using a forged document by a jury in June.

In 2019, she wrote a phoney email telling delegates of the annual Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand conference that it had been postponed due to the climate crisis, using the organisation’s letterhead and industry logos.

• READ MORE: Other climate protest reports

Judge Michael Turner told the Dunedin District Court on Monday that she did not appear to regret her actions and lacked insight into her behaviour.

“Penwarden must be deterred from behaving in an illegal way in the future,” he said.

Penwarden’s lawyer Ben Smith sought a discharge without conviction, saying she never thought it would be taken seriously and she was attempting to protest using satire.

Convicting Penwarden would create financial uncertainty by creating issues if she wanted to borrow money and could have a chilling effect on others who were planning to protest, he said.

She would do it again
Judge Turner denied that application, saying he did not believe it was an adequate consequence, especially after she told media following her trial that she had no regrets and she would do it again.

Her actions showed premeditation and a degree of skill to create a false email, use a conference document to find names, create a letter with a logo and send it out — first to media, and then to conference speakers and delegates, Judge Turner said.

He acknowledged her dedication to her community while sentencing her to 125 hours of community work, but said that she would be undertaking work for the New Zealand public this time.

Her supporters sang Te Aroha as she walked out of the courtroom.

Speaking outside the court, Penwarden said she respected the judge’s sentence and it was good news she did not have to go to prison.

Maximum up to 10 years
The maximum penalty for using a false document is 10 years’ imprisonment.

“I’m an ordinary grandmother and I think anyone who really cares and who really listens to the climate science understands what is coming down the line and it is bigger than one person writing a letter. It is bigger than one person doing community service,” Penwarden said.

She could still protest if she stayed within the law, she said.

“I would not incite anybody to break the law, and that’s part of my bail conditions anyway.”

Penwarden urged people not to vote for anyone pandering to climate change deniers.

“We’ve got work to do people.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

ANALYSIS: By Wendy Bacon in Sydney

New South Wales police withdrew a false allegation that four climate change protesters who had stopped traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge last year blocked an ambulance.

Police included this false allegation in a statement of the so-called “facts” that police prepared on the day of the arrests. The false allegation was designed to paint a hostile image of four peaceful protesters and to successfully argue for onerous bail conditions, including severe restrictions on their movements, and tough sentences.

The documents drawn up on the day of the protest stated: “The actions today have not only caused serious disruption to peak-hour traffic, but this imposition to traffic prevented an ambulance responding to an emergency under lights and sirens as it was unable to navigate through the increased heavy traffic as previously mentioned. This imposition to a critical emergency service has the potential to result in fatality.”

• READ MORE: Wendy Bacon reports on a trail of NSW police allegations ‘bad habits’ – police admit to false allegation against protesters
• Climate activist Deanna ‘Violet’ Coco’s 15-month jail sentence quashed on appeal
• ‘It’s time to be the crowd’, Knitting Nannas tell protest against jailing of climate activist

An unprecedented tough sentence was given to Violet Coco who had already spent 84 days “imprisoned” at home between her arrest in April 2022 and her appearance before Magistrate Alison Hawkins in December.

Hawkins referred to the blocking of the ambulance in her remarks when she sentenced Coco to 15 months in prison and refused bail. After spending 10 days in prison, Coco was released on bail by District Court judge Timothy Gartelmann.

Her appeal against sentence was heard on March 15 when the matter of the false allegations was raised.

The new information emerged during the sentencing hearing against two of Coco’s co-defendants Alan Glover and Karen Fitz-Gibbon who appeared for sentencing earlier this month.

They pleaded guilty to charges arising from blocking one lane of the Harbour Bridge for 30 minutes in April last year. Magistrate Daniel Reiss sentenced both to 18 months Community Correction Orders with a fine of $3000 each.

Compared to previous sentences for peaceful protesters, these are harsh sentences. Their lawyer told the court that they regretted causing inconvenience.

Outside the court, Glover, a comedian and actor who has been a firefighter for 40 years, told the media, “I’m very unhappy and angry. I think the judgement is wrong and I’m going to appeal.”

Asked whether he thought the tactics were appropriate, he said, “I’m a firefighter and what do I have to do to make sure firefighters have the resources to do the job properly. I want the government to recognise that we are already in the midst of climate change problems…We’ve got people dying from smoke inhalation from bushfires that are bigger than anything we’ve ever seen.”

Asked by a journalist if he still agreed with his lawyer’s statement in court that he recognised the action was “inappropriate”, he said, “I do, I thought it was inappropriate at the time but we have to do something to get the government to act now now.. a few minutes delay is nothing compared to the massive disruption that will occur if we do not get action on climate change.”

Greens spokesperson and NSW Upper House MP Sue Higginson who has appeared for hundreds of environmental protesters wrote on Facebook: “I nearly fell off my chair when the Magistrate handed down his sentence — a conviction, an 18 month community corrections order and a $3000 fine. I have represented hundreds of environmental protesters and this sentence is just so wrong. He should not be punished this way. I hope he appeals.

“On the upside, the case today put to rest the dangerous false shrill claims that an ambulance was obstructed during the protest. It wasn’t! When you have a state government and an opposition in lock step in an anti-protest draconian stance and a legal intolerance to dissent and civil disobedience we fail our democracy, our climate, our environment and our communities.”

Greens Senator David Shoebridge agreed and wrote on Facebook: ”The police went into court and REPEATEDLY lied that this had blocked an ambulance — all to try to get a harsher penalty for a climate protector!

Magistrate Daniel Reiss noted that Glover’s two co-accused “Violet” Deanna Coco and Jay Larbalestier had both been sentenced on the “false ambulance assertion” and that “no emergency vehicles were obstructed”.

This could open the way for Larbastier to appeal on his sentence. Police acknowledged that they had taken no steps to inform him that the evidence used against him was partly false.

If it wasn’t for the publicity, he would not know about the ambulance lie.

The cases of the Harbour Bridge protesters were among the first to take place after the LNP government’s draconian anti-protest laws were passed with NSW Labor’s support in April last year.

CCL condemns disproportionate sentences of climate protesters
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties is one of scores of organisations calling for the repeal of the laws. Its president Josh Pallas described the case as “an outrageous” example of “police misstating the facts which have been consequential in the sentences of others.

“The police have offered no justification for this misstatement of facts. They must be held accountable and at the very least, explain how they got this so wrong.

“Climate protesters are being increasingly and disproportionately subjected to punitive legal action by Australian authorities and this has taken that legal action to a new extreme,” he said.

Pallas described this period as “some of the darkest times our members have seen for protesters,” since CCL started advocating for protest rights in 1963.

“We have fought the slow repression of police and the state in cracking down on protest every step of the way. But the fight is hard when the government is protecting mining and business interests and when the mainstream media side with government and large corporates with vested interests to stifle the right to protest,” he said.

“These cases provide yet another example of why everyone should be concerned about increasing repression of public assemblies and protests in NSW and elsewhere around the country. The right to protest and public assembly is an essential democratic right.

“Stifling protest stifles freedom of expression. Enough is enough, the government and the police must respect the right to protest and be accountable for their actions.”

Magistrate focused on ambulance in Coco case
The non existent ambulance featured in the first sentencing hearing against Coco.

The police referred Magistrate Alison Hawkins to the “fact” that Coco had prevented an ambulance with lights and sirens indicating an emergency. Coco’s barrister did not dispute that the ambulance “may have been” on the bridge but warned the magistrate against drawing implications from that or overblowing its significance.

Magistrate Hawkins disagreed asking why she would be going too far to accept that “impeding an ambulance under lights and sirens might be something that potentially has the potential to cause harm to some other person? Why is that a stretch too far?.”

She accepted the existence of the ambulance and the sirens as relevant “facts”.

She then applied these facts in her sentencing saying, “You have halted an ambulance under lights and siren. What about the person in there? What about that person and their family? What are they to think of you and your cause?”

Because Hawkins accepted the ambulance as fact, she felt free to accept that inside the ambulance was a very real person whose life was in danger. This was part of the basis for her referring to the protest as a “childish” and “dangerous” stunt.

She then justified her harsh and angry stance on the basis that this “dangerous behaviour… deserves “condemnation from not only the courts but the community” because Coco had not only illegally protested but she had done so in a manner to cause a “significant level of distress to the community”.

Because of the seriousness of the situation, Hawkins said she had no other option than to impose a full-time jail sentence.

Protester uses body cam footage to prove innocence
One of the effects of the anti-protest laws is to make it less likely that protesters will plead not guilty. This is because the laws are framed so that, for instance, you are either on a road or off a road. You do not have to be given a direction to move.

If an accused pleads not guilty and is then found guilty, there is a risk that a sentence could be even harsher.

When people plead guilty, there is less likelihood that police version of the facts will be tested in cross-examination. This means that there is more latitude for police to create their own facts — in other words, fabricate evidence.

In another case this week, climate activist Richard Boult was found not guilty of all charges brought by NSW Police for stepping onto a road during a climate protest in Sydney last June.

Boult who is part of the Extinction Rebellion drumming group was charged under NSW road rules with obstructing traffic and causing a traffic hazard arising from his participation in Blockade Australia’s call for stronger climate action.

Green Left reported that after attending the protest, he attended a media conference. When he left the conference, police followed him to his car and laid charges alleging he left the footpath and stepped onto the road.

Boult pleaded not guilty, saying his movement from the footpath was at a point in the road designated as a closing point. Significantly, he used body camera evidence that validated his claims. So it was not just his word against the police version of events.

He also rejected a plea deal, which would have dropped one charge but retained another. The court upheld Boult’s plea of not guilty and dropped the charges.

Wendy Bacon was previously the professor of journalism at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and is supporting the Greens in the NSW election. One of the reasons, she supports the Greens is because they are the only party committed to repealing the protest laws. Wendy Bacon’s investigative journalism blog.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is pleased that a Sydney magistrate jailed protester Deanna “Violet” Coco on Friday. But he is out of step with international and Australian human rights and climate change groups and activists, who have quickly mobilised to show solidarity.

On Monday, protests were held in Sydney, Canberra and Perth calling for the release of Coco who blocked one lane of the Sydney Harbour Bridge for half an hour during a morning peak hour in April.

She climbed onto the roof of a truck holding a flare to draw attention to the global climate emergency and Australia’s lack of preparedness for bushfires. Three other members of the group Fireproof Australia, who have not been jailed, held a banner and glued themselves to the road.

• READ MORE: What Violet Coco’s jailing says about the Australian justice system – Crikey

Coco pleaded guilty to seven charges, including disrupting vehicles, possessing a flare distress signal in a public place and failing to comply with police direction.

Magistrate Allison Hawkins sentenced Coco to 15 months in prison, with a non-parole period of eight months and fined her $2500. Her lawyer Mark Davis has lodged an appeal which will be heard on March 2, 2023.

Unusually for a non-violent offender, Hawkins refused bail pending an appeal against the sentence. Davis, who will again apply for bail in the District Court next week, said refusal of bail pending appeal was “outrageous”.

Climate change protester sentenced to jail over Sydney Harbour Bridge protest. Video: News 24

‘People shouldn’t be jailed for peaceful protest’
In Sydney, about 100 protesters gathered outside NSW Parliament House and then marched to the Downing Centre. The crowd included members of climate action groups Extinction Rebellion, Knitting Nannas and Fireproof Australia but also others who, while they might not conduct a similar protest themselves, believe in the right of others to do so.

One of the protest organisers, Knitting Nanna Marie Flood, was unable to attend due to illness. Her message called for the release of Coco and an end to the criminalisation and intimidation of climate activists.

It was read by another Knitting Nanna, Eurydice Aroney:

“Nannas have been on Sydney streets protesting about gas and coal mines for about 8 years now. Over that time we’ve had lots of interactions with the Sydney Events police, and not a lot of trouble.

“You could say we are known to the police. We were amused and surprised at the recent climate emergency rally at town hall, when one of the police said to some Nannas that he thought we’d fallen in with the wrong crowd!

“Looks like we better clear some things up.”

“We ARE the crowd who knows that climate action is urgent and it starts with stopping new gas and coal. We know the importance of public protests to bringing about social and political change.

“We will stand up against any move to take away the democratic right to protest. What is happening to Violet Coco is a direct result of the actions of the NSW government with the support of the ALP opposition.”

The message ended with a call to all climate activists: “Now is the time to BE THE CROWD — we can’t afford to fall for attempts to divide the climate movement. We all want to save the climate, and to do that we need to protect democracy.”

The Knitting Nannas have launched a challenge to the validity of the protest laws through the Environmental Defenders’ Office.

Snap rally at NSW Parliament and a march to the courts at the Downing Centre where climate activist Violet Coco was sentenced to 15 months in prison last week.

We demand repeal of the draconian anti-protest laws, an end to new fossil fuel projects and serious climate action now! pic.twitter.com/F1Yxs8L0DG

— Padraic Gibson (@paddygibson) December 5, 2022

One of those attending the protest was Josh Pallas, president of NSW Council for Civil Liberties. Civil Liberties has been defending the right to protest in NSW for more than half a century.

In a media release, he said: “Peaceful protest should never result in jail time. It’s outrageous that the state wastes its resources seeking jail time and housing peaceful protesters in custody at the expense of taxpayers.

“Protesters from Fireproof Australia and other groups have engaged in peaceful protest in support of stronger action on climate change, a proposition that is widely supported by many Australians across the political divide and now finding themselves ending up in prison.

“Peaceful protest sometimes involves inconvenience to the public. But inconvenience is not a sufficient reason to prohibit it. It’s immoral and unjust.”

Deputy Lord Mayor and Greens Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore told the crowd that they had the support of the City of Sydney which recently passed a unanimous motion calling for the repeal of the NSW government’s draconian anti-protest laws.

“If you are a group of businesses in the City of Sydney and you want to close the street for a street party, this state government will give you $50,000. If you are a non-violent protester who cares about climate change and you are blocking one lane of traffic for 25 minutes, they will give you two years [in jail].

“We know these laws are designed to intimidate you… Thank you for being the front line in the fight. you are the ones to put your bodies on the line to protest about issues we all care about, ” she said.

Amnesty International support for democracy
Amnesty International spokesperson Veronica Koman emphasised how important it was to see the defence of democratic rights from a regional perspective. She said that Amnesty was concerned that severe repression of pro-independence activists in West Papua was spreading across to other parts of Indonesia.

She fears the same pattern of increasing repression taking hold in NSW.

Human Rights Watch researcher Sophie McNeil, who has won many awards for her journalism, was another person who was quick to respond.

“Outrageous. Climate activist who blocked traffic on Sydney Harbour Bridge jailed for at least eight months” she tweeted on Friday.

Since then she has followed the issue closely, criticising the ABC for failing to quote a human rights source in its coverage of the court case and speaking at a protest in Perth on Monday.

Today she posted this tweet with a short campaigning #FreeVioletCoco video that has already attracted nearly 13,000 views:

Authorities in #Australia are disproportionately punishing climate activists in violation of their basic rights to peaceful protest

Violet Coco has been sentenced to 15 months in prison

Her crime? A peaceful protest that lasted 25 minutes#FreeVioletCoco @hrw pic.twitter.com/5qhyCWs2fk

— Sophie McNeill (@Sophiemcneill) December 5, 2022

‘If you’re reading this, you’ll know I am in prison’
In jailing Coco, Magistrate Hawkins went out of her way to diminish and delegitimise her protest. She described it as a “childish stunt’ that let an “entire city suffer” through her “selfish emotional action”.

Coco has been involved with climate change protests for more than four years and has been arrested in several other protests. On one occasion, she set light to an empty pram outside Parliament House.

Rather than fight on technicalities, she chosen to plead guilty, knowing that if the magistrate was hostile, she could be taken into custody at the end of Friday’s hearing.

Several steps ahead of her critics, she made a video and wrote a long piece to be published if she went to prison.

The piece begins: ”If you are reading this, then I have been sentenced to prison for peaceful environmental protest. I do not want to break the law. But when regular political procedure has proven incapable of enacting justice, it falls to ordinary people taking a stand to bring about change.”

She describes how her understanding of the facts of climate science and the inadequacy of the current response led her to decide to give up her studies and devote herself to actions that would draw attention to the climate emergency.

“Liberal political philosopher John Rawls asserted that a healthy democracy must have room for this kind of action. Especially in the face of such a threat as billions of lives lost and possibly the collapse of our liveable planet.

“But make no mistake — I do not want to be protesting. Protest work is not fun — it’s stressful, resource-intensive, scary and the police are violent. They refuse to feed me, refused to give me toilet paper and have threatened me with sexual violence.

“I spent three days in the remand centre, which is a disgusting place full of sad people. I do not enjoy breaking the law. I wish that there was another way to address this issue with the gravitas that it deserves.”

She describes how she has already been forced to comply with onerous bail conditions:

“I was under 24 hour curfew conditions for 20 days in a small apartment with no garden. After 20 days effectively under house arrest, my curfew hours changed — at first I could leave the house for only 5 hours a day for the following 58 days, then 6 hours a day under house arrest for the following 68 days.

“This totalled 2017 hours imprisoned in my home for non-violent political engagement in the prevention of many deaths. Cumulatively, that is 84 days or 12 weeks of my freedom.”

Premier Perrottet says he does not object to protest so long as it does not interfere with “our way of life”.

If it does, individuals should have the “book thrown at them.”

His “way of life” is one in which commuters are never held up in traffic by a protest while endlessly sitting in traffic because of governments’ poor transport planning.

A way of life in which it is fine for governments to take years to house people whose lives are destroyed by fires and floods induced by climate change, to allow people to risk death from heat because they cannot afford air conditioners, open more coal and gas operations that will increase carbon emissions and turn a blind eye to millions of climate refugees in the Asia Pacific region.

It involves only protesting when you have permission and in tightly policed zones where passers-by ignore you.

Labor still backs anti-protest laws
Leader of the Opposition Chris Minns also says he has no regrets for supporting the laws which he says were necessary to stop multiple protests.

But laws don’t target multiple actions, they target individuals. He has not raised his voice to condemn police harassment of individual activists even before they protest and bail conditions that breach democratic rights to freedom of assembly.

There was no visible Labor presence at Sydney’s rally.

Perrottet and Minns may be making right wing shock jocks happy but they are out of line with international principles of human rights.

They also fail to acknowledge that many of Australia’s most famous protest movements around land rights, apartheid, Green Bans, womens’ rights, prison reform and environment often involved actions that would have led to arrest under current anti-protest laws.

They display an ignorance of traditions of civil disobedience. As UNSW Professor Luke Macnamara told SBS News: “[V]isibility and disruption have long been the hallmarks of effective protest.”

He believes disruption and protest need to go hand in hand in order to result in tangible change.

“There’s an inherent contradiction in governments telling protesters what are acceptable, passive, non-disruptive means of engaging in protests, when the evidence may well be that those methods have been attempted and have proven to be ineffective,” he said.

“It’s not realistic on the one hand to support the so-called ‘right to protest’, and on the other hand, expect the protest has no disruptive effects. The two go together.”

Wendy Bacon was previously a professor of journalism at the University of Technology Sydney and is an editorial board member of Pacific Journalism Review. She joined the protest. This article was first published by City Hub and is republished with the author’s permission.

Police stopped a climate change march in Suva today and forced activists to remove their banners.

They also warned demonstrators against making social media posts about the event.

Priests, church workers and youth had gathered at My Suva Park to march as part of worldwide Day of Climate Action protests against governments failing to act more urgently at the global COP26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

• READ MORE: Youth activists protest against climate inaction at COP26
• Other COP26 climate reports

Organised by the Columban Society of the Roman Catholic church, the march also coincided with the church’s Season of Creation.

Marchers carried banners calling for reduced carbon emissions and an end to global warming.

The same message was delivered at COP26 by Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.

Police allowed the crowd about 100 to walk to the nearby Pacific Regional Seminary, where an event was held.

However, they refused permission for a public gathering at My Suva Park and forced activists to remove their banners.

Social media criticism of police
Social media postings criticised the police action.

One poster from Auckland on the Pacific Conference of Churches Facebook page asked why the protest was stopped in Fiji, “a democratic country known for its democracy”.

“Every weekend [a] protest takes place here in Auckland by the anti-vaccine people, not in numbers but in thousands. Police are present there but [none] are arrested or told to stop and leave. It is their right and freedom to express and voice out.

“What is the danger in there. Why so much of dictatorship rule. It was a peaceful march. Marches were also staged in Glasgow during the summit, nobody were turned away.

It is [a] way for the people to express their views.”

Another poster said: “Fijian officials need to realise that Fiji will be one of the few countries in the world that will be swallowed up by the ocean due to climate change.

“Fiji needs to do these marches to show the large countries [which] are guilty of polluting our atmosphere that Fijian Lives Matter.”

Less than 24 hours after New Zealand investigative journalist Nicky Hager’s latest extraordinary story of how oil companies have been spying on children and it has disappeared without trace elsewhere.

School children from the group School Strike 4 Climate joined a peaceful protest against the oil-exploration company OMV in New Plymouth a year ago, only weeks after unprecedented numbers joined their 27 September school strike marches around New Zealand.

Public concern about climate change had never been so great. These were peaceful, democratic protests.

• READ MORE: School children targeted by private investigators Thompson and Clark

But a two-year investigation found that they and other climate change groups were targets of the private investigation firm Thompson and Clark, paid by clients from the oil and gas industry.

The investigation revealed that a major focus of Thompson and Clark in 2019 and 2020 – years of storms, floods, forest fires and marching school children – was monitoring and helping to counter citizen groups concerned about climate change.

Thompson and Clark’s clients included a range of large greenhouse gas emitting industries, including many of the oil and gas exploration and drilling companies in New Zealand and the industry lobby group, the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ).

It has targeted climate change campaigners belonging to School Strike 4 Climate, Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion and local Oil Free groups.

Company insiders
Information about Thompson and Clark’s clients and anti-environmental activities was provided confidentially by company insiders who say they disapprove of the private investigation company.

Operations against these groups were run by Thompson and Clark’s collection manager, a former long-term New Zealand Security Intelligence Service officer, as revealed by Radio New Zealand.

The officer, known only as Gerry, moved to Thompson and Clark 10 years ago, after 30 years with the NZSIS.

Investigative journalist Nicky Hager speaks to RNZ Morning Report about the probe findings. Video: RNZ

When oil companies are spying on school children protesting against global warming something has gone horribly, horribly wrong in society.

When just 100 companies are responsible for 71 percent of global emissions, and when oil corporations knew about and hid climate change as far back as the 1990s we must acknowledge that those who have created and fostered the economic model that has allowed for this damage must be the first to pay for the adaptation funding.

Oil companies must be sued for the damage they have caused the way tobacco companies were sued over cancer.

That money needs to help fund the adaption.

Watching the oil industry respond by hiring corporate spies who are using former SIS officers to spy on school children protesting against climate change is all the proof you ever needed to know how truly spiteful and evil these oil companies truly are, so if you are having some internal dialogue about their rights, don’t!

Martyn Bradbury is editor of The Daily Blog. This article is republished with permission.

It has been a big week for democracy, starting with a pro-coal verdict in Australia and ending with Europeans going to the polls.

Environmentalists despaired as Australian Labor lost another battle in the “climate wars”, punished in coal country for refusing to subsidise new mining infrastructure.

On the other side of the world, European parliamentary elections kicked off on Thursday in a fractured political landscape. Between cries of climate emergency on the streets and surging far-right populism, there’s an emerging consensus to set an EU 2050 net zero emissions target.

READ MORE: NZ students skip school for climate change strike

How that plays out in practical policy hinges on the next cohort of lawmakers and commissioners to be appointed in the following months. Our analysis is also available in French, on Euractiv.

In India, Narendra Modi strengthened his grip on power with a landslide victory. Climate change had a low profile in the campaign and the Congress party’s manifesto treating air pollution as a public health emergency made no headway.

It’s a good time to dust off this 2017 profile by Aditi Roy Ghatak. While known for embracing renewables, Modi has simultaneously swept aside environmental protections to benefit business cronies like the Adani family (incidentally the owners of the Australian mega-mine Labor were punished for not supporting).

Seen and heard
As youth climate activists took part in their biggest school strike to date, Climate Home News offered them a platform to share their diverse perspectives from around the world.

Arshak Makichyan explained his is a lonely protest in Russia, as repressive laws prevent minors and large groups from gathering in public spaces.

From Jerusalem, 16-year-old Michael Bäcklund shared how Israeli and Palestinian youth rejected conflict to call for action on a common crisis.

In New Zealand, RNZ Checkpoint reports that the second round of climate change strikes took place yesterday with thousands of school and tertiary students around the country skipping classes to take part.

School strikes were planned in 24 locations around Aotearoa after the first strike in March ended early because of the Christchurch mosque attacks.

• If you are a young person with a story to tell, email Karl at Climate Home News to get involved.
• This article has been republished from Climate Home News under a Creative Commons licence.
• #Strike4Climate

The second round of global climate change strikes in Auckland this week with school and tertiary students in Auckland skipping classes to take part. Video: RNZ

In more than 100 countries on Friday, young people spilled out of schools and into the streets to demand their governments protect their future.

Tens of thousands of students, young people and supportive chaperones joined protests large and small across the world. At the time of publication, 2083 protests had been registered across 125 countries with the platform Fridays for Future.

In London, a crowd estimated at 10,000 marched on an impromptu route between Parliament Square, Buckingham Palace and Downing Street.

SEE MORE: Del Abcede’s image gallery from the Auckland schools climate strike

Punching their fists into the air, they belted out slogans “What do we want? Climate justice now” and held a flurry of placards.

Climate Home News spoke to marchers who expressed anxiety and fear about their future.

“I’ve always known it’s been a problem and it’s become a bigger problem recently,” William, aged 11, said. “It’s very worrying because we need this planet to survive, because we don’t have another planet. I’m very worried the planet will change. If it changes, it will become uninhabitable and everyone will die.”

Maxime, 18, said: “We haven’t known a world where climate change isn’t an issue. We’ve just watched people ignore it. Slowly learning about it, you think this is absurd.”

‘Not an abstract’
Indra added: “It’s not an abstract idea any more. It’s like it’s happening this year with massive weather storms.”

Strikers said they were angry that their interests were not being protected by politicians.

Otto Omelli, from North London, told CHN that he was striking to call on the government to lower the voting age to 16.

The UK Student Climate Network has urged British politicians to give young people a greater voice in the climate conversation. In a letter circulated on Twitter on Thursday, the group called on a group of British leaders that included Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, prime minister Theresa May and Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon, to meet with them.

Dotted with signs calling on May to step down, the march also offered the opportunity for many to express their dissatisfaction with the current Conservative government.

According to media reports, chancellor Phillip Hammond recently used the budget update to appease the climate school strike movement with a series of green measures, including a ban on gas heating in new-build houses from 2025 and consultations with airlines to allow passengers to offset their emissions.

But Molly, 17, from Hampstead, wasn’t impressed. “Gas by 2025, sorry but that’s too late.”

Renewable energy
Maxime said: “Renewable energy is ready to go as long as the government puts money in it, that’s all we need.”

Many also voiced frustration over the attention granted to Brexit in comparison to climate change, with Otto describing it as “a distraction”.

Both Indra and Maxime echoed Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swdish activist who inspired the movement, to call for the strikes to last as long as was necessary.

“You’ve got to start somewhere,” Indra said. “This is us actually doing something, not just learning something theoretical at school and telling parents: oh yeah, you should tell your parents to turn the lights off. Like this us and slightly getting in the way.

“They’ve got to be inconvenient to make them to do something, because [the adults] are selfish and self-absorbed. If we’re literally blocking their way to work, they might be like: hang on.” (Later, some observers reported that the strikers had blocked traffic around central London.)

“I think the protests will last,” Molly said. “I’m not sure they’re going to be 100% successful, which is upsetting. But we have so much anger, there’s no way we’re going to stop.”

Berlin climate rally
An estimated 20,000 students gathered in Berlin’s Invalidenpark, before marching toward the Chancellery. They included elementary school students with their parents, high school students who attended with their schools’ blessing, and college students who said they were awed by the activism of kids just a few years younger than them.

Students held signs and chanted “Wir sind hier, wir sind laut, weil ihr uns unsere Zunkunft klaut” (“We are here, we are loud, because you are stealing our future”).

Helene Hager and Nick Bley, both 18, attended with about 60 kids from their school, Grüner Campus Malchow in Lichtenberg, Berlin. Their school supported students who wanted to attend the protest, excusing their absence.

Why did they attend? “It’s our future, and I think it’s very important to fight for that,” said Bley, who carried a “Make Our Planet Great Again” sign.

“It’s very annoying that the media and the politics don’t really do anything to improve our environment, [they] make other topics more important,” said Hager, who was attending her first protest.

“We are all young people, and in Germany they say, oh the young people are not interested in politics” said Bley.

“Fridays for Future brings so many young people to the streets of Berlin…it’s very nice to be here and see the unity.

Rachel Waldholz was reporting in Berlin for Clean Energy Wire. This article is republished under a Creative Commons licence.

• New Zealand schools climate protests

Thousands of school students, teachers and climate advocates gathered at cities across New Zealand today to kickstart the global Strike 4 Climate action day.

More than 3000 students packed into Aotea Square in New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, in a vibrant display of enthusiasm in their call for urgent and real change by politicians.

Brightly coloured placards proclaimed “Stop global warming”, “Stop destroying – start caring”, “I would be at school if the Earth was cool” and “Our planet is dying and all you can think about is truancy” as the students called for action, not talk, by governments.

READ MORE: Climate stories

In the capital Wellington, at least 2000 spirited students and their supporters descended on Parliament, reports RNZ Pacific.

The lawn in front of the Beehive was packed with young protesters this morning and chants like, “No more coal, no more oil, keep your carbon in the soil” surely reached the politicians inside.

• Live news feed on The Daily Blog
• Strike for climate action

Thousands of school students and youth march down Auckland’s Queen St for their climate protest. Video: Cafe Pacific

Students across New Zealand are striking today as part of a worldwide day of action over global warming and the issue of climate change.

The strikes are expected to bring tens of thousands of students to the streets across the globe from Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

Strikes in more then 20 towns and cities around New Zealand are planned, ranging from Russell in the north to Nelson in the south.

READ MORE: Amnesty welcomes school climate strikes, warns ‘truant’ governments

The Auckland strike will begin midday in Aotea Square, with musical performances and guest speakers coming out to discuss any and all environmental issues.

The demands of the School Strike 4 Climate NZ include passing a proposed Zero Carbon Act and ceasing all exploration and extraction of fossil fuels immediately.

Auckland University of Technology communications student Millie Hinchliffe said the strike was a good thing because it showed the younger generation was more aware of these environmental issues being seen through social media.

“People have become more aware of what’s going on … before the internet, people were aware but not as aware as to how bad the impact was but now you’re able to see it,” she said.

PM backs students
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met with climate protesting students at Wellington College this week, saying it was vital that civic leaders listened to the concerns of the next generation.

“Students around the world are calling politicians to action – we have a responsibility to listen to them and respond,” she said.

Opposition leader Simon Bridges told The AM Show it was an important issue and he would not begrudge students taking a day off school to protest lack of action on climate change. However he was unsure whether the ends justify the means.

More than 1500 teachers and academics have thrown their support behind the strike by signing the Academics, Teachers and Researchers in Solidarity with School Strike 4 Climate Aotearoa New Zealand.

An academic who signed the above letter, senior researcher at Victoria University Dr Judy Lawrence, believes it is important for the younger generation to be involved, because it is their future that will be affected the most.

“The government makes decisions which will affect future generations and especially for those who cannot vote. So you are directly affected but have no voice. You will inherit the harm done by policy delay.

“Hope won’t do it. You want action.”

The movement started after 15-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg sat outside the Swedish Parliament building in Stockholm until the September election.

Her protest saw thousands rally behind her with strikes happening across Germany, Switzerland and England.

Te Waha Nui is AUT University’s training online publication and newspaper, publishing the work of journalism students on the Bachelor of Communication Studies and Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies programmes.

• School climate strikes – the big challenge is to make democracy work
• Greta Thunberg nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
• School Strike 4 Climate

Since 2012, more than half a million square kilometers of land and sea have been proposed for release, imposing on people’s properties.

It will also encroach on the Marine Mammal Sanctuary for the critically endangered Maui’s dolphin.

“Today’s blockade intends to disrupt the Petroleum Summit by using non-violent direct action,”  says “People’s Climate Rally” spokesperson Emily Tuhi-Ao Bailey

“Not a single new oil well, gas field or coal mine can operate if we are going to avoid a climate catastrophe, yet year after year the government and oil industry keep meeting to find ways to expand the industry.”

The People’s Climate Rally was organised by a coalition of groups from Taranaki and around New Zealand in order to disrupt the conference and discuss clean and fair alternatives to the fossil fuel industry.

It is the first time the government and international oil delegates have held the oil conference in Taranaki.

Escalating protests
This move comes after years of escalating protests in Wellington and Auckland, which have seen thousands take to the streets and hundreds blockade the Sky City conference venue in Auckland.

“We demand a stop to all new oil and gas exploration, drilling and fracking,” said Bailey.

“The extraction and burning of fossil fuels is radically changing our climate, wreaking havoc on our critical infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, human health and food security. It is time to stop.

“Non violent direct action has a long and revered history. Social justice change has always involved people coming together, organising and put their bodies on the line to stand in the way of injustice.

“It is especially important that this is happening in Taranaki. Taranaki has long, bitter experience with the environmental, health and personal impacts from oil and gas activities including drilling, flaring and fracking.

“For many Māori this is seen as a continuation of colonisation.”

• Climate change protest in Auckland
• Pacific nations on carbon collision course

Greenpeace NZ climate campaigner Simon Boxer said today the report from the Morgan Foundation was proof that New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), a policy which allows companies to offset their pollution by buying ‘carbon credits’ from other companies that pollute less, was “nothing but hot air”.

“It’s a total bloody waste of time. The ETS was a policy that was purposefully made to sound boring and dense so people wouldn’t dig deeper into it,” he said.

“But the reality is it doesn’t clean up pollution at all – in fact it actually allows businesses to make a profit from pollution. Under the National government, this scheme is a scam.

“It’s a climate crime.”

Complicit dealings
The Morgan Foundation report, called Climate Cheats, outlines how the New Zealand government has been complicit in the dealing of fraudulent carbon credits manufactured by organised crime in Russia and Ukraine.

The countries use loopholes in international rules to create millions of false carbon credits that have no environmental benefit, and then sell them at bargain rates to the world market.

The European Union banned trade in these dodgy credits in 2013, but Boxer said New Zealand had continued to use them because they were cheap, despite the government knowing they were fraudulent.

Even worse, he said, was the fact that the use of these credits was one of the ways the NZ government planned to meet its climate targets for 2020.

“It’s another excuse for John Key to sit back, relax and do what he does best – which is absolutely nothing,” Boxer said.

“If he was serious about the communities he represents, he would do real-life things like shut the coal burners at Huntly Power Station and promote renewable energy like wind and solar.

“He would be backing green farming, rather than driving huge and costly irrigation schemes, which industrialise our farms, bankrupt New Zealand’s farmers, and allow our rivers and lakes to become so dirty they could make you sick.

“Most importantly, if he were a decent bloke, Key would not allow our environmental policy to be driven by a scam scheme that implicates us all in the heart of a global scandal.”

The Morgan Foundation report comes mere weeks after the release of the Panama Papers, which show New Zealand’s lax tax laws make it a pseudo tax-haven for foreign companies.

• Morgan Foundation ‘Climate cheats’ report
• Report accuses NZ government of being ‘climate cheats’

Australian trade union groups and Philippines solidarity networks have joined in protesting over the Kidapawan massacre in the southern island of Mindanao last Friday, leaving 3 dead, 87 missing and 116 wounded.

According to Interaksyon, security forces opened fire as they dispersed farmers and indigenous lumad tribespeople who were blockading the Cotabato-Davao highway in Kidapawan City.

The number of wounded had climbed to 116, according to Ariel Casilao of Anakpawis, speaking by phone from the United Methodist Church (UMC) compound in Kidapawan. But other reports have indicated a lower number of casualties.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions; Maritime Union of Australia, SEARCH Foundation; Philippines Australia Union Link; Action for Peace and Development in the Philippines, and Migrante Australia are among those who have prostested.

A protest letter has been delivered to the Philippines consulate in Sydney.

“We are outraged at the shooting of a large and peaceful protest of farmers in Kidapawan, Mindanao, last Friday morning, by the Philippines National Police,” Peter Murphy, spokesperson for the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, said today.

“We demand action from the Philippines President today, along with protests around the globe.”

The casualty figures given were smaller than those reported by Interaksyon.

A statement by the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) said he shootings left two people dead, and at least 37 hurt and wounded.

Many were still unaccounted for after the violent dispersal, including women, elderly and six minors.

45 arrested
At least 45 men were illegally arrested and are now under police custody at the Kidapawan Gym, while 27 women (three are pregnant and two senior citizens) were arrested and are now at the Kidapawan City Convention Center.

The rest of the protesters who are in sanctuary at the UMC’s Spottswood Methodist Center  continue to experience harassment, as combined elements of the police and military surround the church compound and restrict the entry and exit of farmers, their supporters, and churchgoers.

The farmers mounted the protest against the government’s attention to the much-needed distribution of relief goods and agricultural assistance amid the impact of the El Niño climate phenomenon.

The government had promised billions of pesos to mitigate the situation. But nothing followed.

The ICHRP called for:

1. Immediate independent investigation of the incident;
2. Pull-out of police and military elements blocking the entry and exit of protesters and support groups in the UMC compound;
3. Release of protesters illegally detained by the PNP;
4. Immediate distribution of the rice support and other calamity assistance to the farmers;
5. Relief and prosecution of police officials involved in the dispersal and shooting of farmers pending an impartial investigation;
6. The accountability of Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza and all involved officials;
7. The Philippine government to adhere to/respect the basic fundamental right of its citizens to freedom of association and assembly, and to come to its defence and aid when disasters have deprived them of their basic needs.

• Demand for rice turns bloody
• North Cotabato governor slammed for threatening bishop

But Asia Pacific Report had a photographer on the inside – with the protesters blockading the floor leading to the venue of the New Zealand Petroleum Conference.

Asia Pacific’s Del Abcede captured these images of police dragging away the protesters.

The non-violent civil disobedience action was organised by Greenpeace.

Another Del Abcede image gallery from SkyCity

Dragging away protesters

1 of 22

By Mackenzie Smith

Climate change activists formed a singing blockade around the SkyCity Auckland Convention Centre today in an effort to disrupt the Petroleum New Zealand Conference.

The protesters dispersed peacefully around 10:30am after a dawn start and were confident that the action was a success.

Chris Hay, an actions coordinator for Greenpeace NZ, said that the conference was effectively shut down for 2.5 hours and that was “a really great achievement”.

“More than 200 people committed to, if necessary, being arrested in order to tell the oil industry that it’s no longer business as usual,” he said.

He believes that the “radical” image normally associated with protests is beginning to change due to increased awareness from the public regarding issues such as climate change.

“The men and suits that we saw today… those guys, for too long, have been determining our future,” he said.

“This is democracy in action. Democracy doesn’t happen every three years, it happens every day.”

Hottest month
Last month — February — was reported to be the hottest month in recorded history,  something that Greenpeace NZ, which organised the protest, wanted everyone to remember.

The organisers have drawn comparisons between today’s “peaceful civil disobedience” and civil rights movements such as the 1981 Springbok Tour protests and Rosa Parks’ effort to end segregation in America.

“The climate justice movement has in front of it a job which is as big as the civil rights movements had in front of it,” said Greenpeace NZ executive director Russel Norman.

He said that although the historical movements had their differences to what was achieved today, the tactics used in order to achieve a civil rights victory were extremely relevant — and that with that history came a certain validity.

Organisers felt that while getting their message across was the main focus, it was important to preserve the kaupapa, which Hay explains as being “the spirit of things”.

Greenpeace NZ officials made it clear to protesters that today’s protest was to be non-violent and would involve no shouting, chanting, loudhailers, or active resistance of arrest.

Any protesters who did not conform to this definition of non-violence would not be provided with the customary legal support.

Greenpeace NZ chose not to apply their brand to this protest in a move that Norman describes as being “quite experimental”.

They hope that this will bring the strength and diverse representation of a people’s movement rather than that of a singular body.

Norman believes there is a “balance to be struck” between the building of broad social movements and providing support to the institutions that support them.

‘Life and death’ action needed

It is the first time in New Zealand that Greenpeace has invited the general public to take civil disobedience action en masse.

The day’s activities are being livestreamed by Greenpeace and Asia Pacific Report also has Storify coverage.

Climate campaigner Steve Abel said today that despite years of public opposition and a failure to find any deep sea oil, Prime Minister John Key’s government had continued to invest in the drilling that threatened New Zealand communities, coastlines and climate.

The protest comes just days after the announcement that February 2016 was the hottest month in history.

“We have a government and an oil industry hell-bent on drilling for the very oil that must stay in the ground if we’re going to avoid climate change causing human catastrophe,” said Abel.

Hundreds of people planned to sit outside the main entrances of SkyCity in Auckland, where the 2016 Petroleum New Zealand Conference is being held.

Tuvaluan protesters
Protesters are expected to include Anglican ministers, nurses, teachers and members of the Tuvaluan community, whose Islands are on the frontline of sea-level rise.

Inside the conference, Minister of Energy and Resources Simon Bridges is expected to announce the 2016 “Block Offers” – the areas of New Zealand’s ocean that will be on the market for oil exploration this year.

Last year, almost 430,000 sq km were opened up for potential drilling.

‘Life and death’ action needed

Hundreds of climate change protesters were today blockading entrance to the oil industry conference at Auckland’s Sky City convention centre.

Through non-violent peaceful civil disobedience, Greenpeace has pledged to “send the strongest message we can that New Zealand must join the global fight to quit oil and meet the greatest challenge of our time – climate change”.

#RealClimateChange

More information

Environmentalist Bill McKibben today appealed to New Zealanders to take part in peaceful civil disobedience to overthrow “radicalism”.

The American made the call in a video five days before citizens will participate in a Greenpeace-organised mass demonstration of peaceful civil disobedience at the annual petroleum conference at SkyCity in Auckland.

It will be the first time in New Zealand that Greenpeace has invited the general public to take part in a mass civil disobedience action.

McKibben, who founded global climate change organisation 350.org, recorded the video in support of the action on Monday.

In a personal message to the New Zealanders taking part, McKibben said:

“We thank you in advance for being willing to stand up peacefully and non-violently to the most violent forces on our planet.”

He said New Zealand was one of the most “beautiful places in the world” but now stood as a country that needed to get serious about the climate crisis.

‘Lots of sweet things’
“Everybody went off to Paris [COP21 climate conference]. Everybody said lots of sweet things. Everybody pounded each other on the back about what great people they were,” he said.

“[But] if you come home from Paris and say ‘nothing is changing – we’re still going to mine coal, we’re still going to go drill in the deep blue sea for oil, we’re still going to frack’, then you didn’t get the message.”

On the back of the Paris Climate Conference last December, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said he had no intention of scaling back the search for fossil fuels.

McKibben is encouraging for New Zealanders considering using peaceful civil disobedience as a tactic for change.

“The point that you’re trying to get across I think, most importantly, is there’s nothing radical about what we’re talking about. All we’re talking about is trying to keep a world that works a little bit like the world worked for the last 10,000 years,” he said.

“The radicals [are the] oil companies and the government ministries that aid and abet that…[It’s] our job, with our bodies if need be, to slow down that radicalism…Civil disobedience is a powerful tactic – it needs to be done with a complete commitment to non-violence and peacefulness.”

350.org

Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman said temperatures around the planet — including in New Zealand — had experienced such a spike that the world would be “crazy” not to act immediately.

“Based on the data that’s just been put out it’s pretty clear that February has obliterated our previous record-setting month. It’s completely unusual, even taking El Niño into consideration,” he said.

“Doing something about this right away is a matter of life and death. We can’t afford to muck around.

“Even the climate deniers, who ironically have used this very satellite data in the past to further their own agendas, have gone very quiet.”

Action here in New Zealand needed to start with calling it quits on any future oil exploration, said Norman.

But on the back of the #COP21 Paris Climate Conference in January, Prime Minister John Key said he had no intention of scaling back any search for fossil fuels.

Facing floods, droughts
“Key is doing less than bugger all when it comes to climate change. And this means we’re facing floods in our homes, and droughts on our farms. We need to make the call now that enough is enough,” said Norman.

“I think this will be the year of peaceful protest in New Zealand. We’ve seen it with the TPPA [Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement], and we’re going to see it with the oil industry. Next on the agenda is Greenpeace’s day of peaceful civil disobedience in three weeks at the annual petroleum conference at SkyCity.”

Last month, Greenpeace launched the campaign, pegged as an “an escalation of protest tactics”, and called on members of the public to take part in a co-ordinated demonstration of civil disobedience at the conference in Auckland on March 21.

“Everyone who is concerned about news like February’s overwhelming temperature record should come and join us at the oil conference. We need real climate action,” said Norman.

Praying for action on climate change and a kava ceremony in the heart of the Catholic Church were all part of the journey leading up to last year’s momentous COP21 Paris climate change talks, says the leader of the Pacific Climate Warriors.

Koreti Tiumalu told the In the Eye of the Storm climate change conference that she had seen many strange things in her life as an environmental activist.

A mother and former public servant, Tiumalu abandoned a life of financial stability to pursue a career as an activist when the Climate Warriors offered her a part-time position.

Minimal hours and pay forced her to make sacrifices such as selling her house and car.

The group comprises activists from 15 countries who have taken action regionally and across the world to combat climate change.

They were perhaps best known for using canoes in an attempt to prevent Australian coal ships from leaving port, she said.

Tiumalu said that those involved had wrongly believed that the police would protect their demonstration, when in fact police in speedboats and jet skis quickly broke through their makeshift blockade. However, the stunt garnered plenty of attention and support for the Climate Warriors.

In her speech, Tiumalu described spending time praying in the Vatican – before the Paris conference in November – on mats depicting stories from Pacific communities affected by climate change. She had wanted to “get right spiritually” before the conference.

The Climate Warriors also hosted the “first ever kava ceremony in the Vatican” with supportive Pacific island priests.

In the coming weeks, Tiumalu said the group would determine “what the Pacific Climate Warriors are going to look like over the next three years”.

She often worries about the future: “I’m nervous, it’s scary. You’ve seen the pictures of what they do to activists. But it’s not something we can afford not to do.”

She hoped that more young activists and public figures, like the Australian former rugby league star and American football running back Jarryd Hayne, would take interest in the Climate Warriors.

“That’s the other thing we need to do – empower our young people to be leaders.”

Tiumalu said her organisation appealed to the younger generation because of its noble cause and exciting work environment.

“We’ve got to have as much fun as we can … But we work hard and we love hard.”

Thomas Leaycraft is a Scoop student journalist intern covering the In the Eye of the Storm conference for Scoop, Asia Pacific Report and Evening Report.

Read more about the In the Eye of the Storm Pacific Climate Conference.

Pacific Climate Warriors celebrate Pope’s leadership