direct action

Six people, including two members of Six Degrees, who were arrested at the Camp for Climate Action on July 13 2008 appeared in Newcastle Local Court yesterday. Despite their defense that they were acting to prevent the greater harm of climate change, and an expert statement from eminent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientist, Professor Andy Pitman, they were found guilty. They will appeal the decision at the district court later in the year.

This World Environment Day, Friday 5 June, concerned citizens from across Brisbane joined with Six Degrees to declare Government Ministers' Offices "Global Warming Crime-scenes" to deliver a clear message that their inaction on phasing out coal in the face of climate change makes them utterly negligent.

Farmers on the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales vowed to continue their campaign against the mining giant BHP Billiton after the courts upheld the company's unfettered right to access their properties against their will. But independant federal MP Tony Windsor says the decision will only strengthen the communities resolve, and warned BHP Billiton to prepare for renewed civil disobedience.

Just before 7am in the morning of May 21st, 14 Greenpeace activists shut down a coal digger at Hazelwood, the developed world’s most polluting power station, carrying the message "Coal - Powering Climate Change".

Over the last year, there has been a massive groundswell in the number of people prepared to take direct action against the coal industry in Queensland. Here we chronicle the short but eventful history of ordinary citizens taking action and standing up to the coal industry.

Campaigners from Six Degrees brought together around 30 Queensland citizens concerned about a sustainable future for Queensland to bring the farm to the city this morning. Together we built a veggie garden on the lawns of Parliament House to urge the major political parties to protect good quality agricultural land from mining.

At Woodford Folk Festival in 2008, Friends of the Earth gave a presentation on Non-Violent Direct Action.

A recording of the presentation is available below. All of the other presentations at the Woodford Greenhouse tent are available at www.thegreenhouse.org.au