direct action

This morning, immediately following the end of the climate talks in Copenhagen, Friends of the Earth activists took to the streets and bridges of Brisbane, denouncing the failure of the negotiations and imploring community members to take action.

This morning Steve and Nathan from Six Degrees were ordered to pay damages of over $3400 to Queensland Bulk Handling Corporation after a protest at the Brisbane coal port in October where they halted coal loading and had to be cut free of port infrastructure.

Protesters from campaign group Friends of the Earth will face court in Wynnum, Brisbane this morning for their efforts to halt the expansion of the coal industry in Queensland.

A brief diversion from coal to mention the inspiring efforts of some of our friends in the Climate Justice Fast. It's day 16 of the hunger strike (yep, they haven't eaten a thing for 16 days!) and today one of the Australian fasters, Paul, made a great vlog post on civil disobedience.

This is very pertinent given that Steve and Nathan from Six Degrees will be facing court tomorrow for disrupting coal loading during last month's Brisbane Coal Port Blockade.

Imagine that you arrive home to discover that the tap was left running in the laundry and your house is now flooding. What would you do? Most likely you would turn off the tap and then deal with the laborious job of mopping up the mess. Unfortunately, when it comes to climate change, Queensland seems all too happy to keep opening the tap wider and wider and vainly hoping that a few token mopping gestures will make it all go away.

It's been a great day on the river (and at the port, and in the lockup). The kayaks are all of the water, and two protestors remain in custody at the police station. We've had good media coverage so far.

Well done to all the kayakers who disrupted the port for 3 hours and the brave activists who shut down the coal loading conveyer for over an hour! Together we've sent a stong message to Anna Bligh that the community will not stand for the ridiculous expansion that she and the coal industry are planning.

This morning protesters in kayaks will blockade the Brisbane coal port to confront the Queensland Government about the expansion of Queensland's coal exports.

Protesters in kayaks and canoes will float a huge banner infront of the ship disrupting coal exports for the day.

Tomorrow (Saturday, 19/09/09) community members concerned about climate change will attend training in peaceful direct action tactics in preparation for disrupting the coal industry - Queensland's biggest contributor to climate change.

The community is realising that only through taking action ourselves will we start to break coal's strangle hold on the Queensland Government and economy."Says Six Degrees spokesperson Eleanor Smith.

Climate change protesters disrupted a speech by Rio Tinto Coal Managing Director Bill Champion in Newcastle today. Half a dozen protesters from Rising Tide Newcastle were removed from the premises by police after arriving at the speech with banners and a megaphone.

On the eve of the Pacific Islands Forum in Cairns, Greenpeace activists have shut down Abbot Point coal export terminal in Queensland to demand Kevin Rudd stops risking the future of Pacific Islands by undermining real action on climate change and expanding Australia's coal industry. They are demanding that Kevin Rudd stops expanding Australia’s coal industry and risking the future of Pacific Islands.

Several activists climbed onto the coal loader and locked it down. One has since been arrested. The activists say that they will stay on the coal loader, stopping Australia’s major contribution to climate change – export coal – until their message has got through to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.