鈥淲e need a powerful movement to make action on climate change unstoppable,鈥 Alexa Stuart, Rising Tide organiser, told a packed out public meeting at Redfern Town Hall in Gadi/Sydney on September 4.
The meeting is part of national speaking tour to build for its two-day People鈥檚 Blockade of the World鈥檚 Largest Coal Port鈥 in Muloobinba/Newcastle, which it hopes to involve thousands including families.
鈥淲e want to build a civil resistance movement to shut down the Newcastle coal port for at least two days. We need to create a people power movement of historic proportions.鈥
Sean Murray, also from Rising Tide, said: 鈥淲e want 3000 people to blockade the Newcastle coal port on the weekend of November 25鈥26. The whole mobilisation, including preparation, action, and de-briefing will occur over four days, November 24-27.
Camping and billeting will be available for visitors, and there will be live music, speakers, food stalls and children鈥檚 events at the main site, Horseshoe Beach.
Ian Dunlop, a former chair of the Australian Coal Association, now a climate activist, earlier told the event: 鈥淲e are heading globally for a serious overshoot of the 1.5掳C global warming objective set in the Paris Agreement.
鈥淭he inertia in the climate system, and the slow warming of the oceans means that abrupt, non-linear climate change could result, even if we achieve substantial reduction in greenhouse gases over the next 20 years.
鈥淭his requires genuine emergency action on climate change immediately. What we do in the next five years will determine the future of humanity.鈥
The Rev Moni Taumoepeau from the Uniting Church said: 鈥淭he seas are rising more in the South Pacific than in any other part of the world. This means we all must stand together in strong collective action.鈥
Jenny Leong, Greens MP for Newtown, said: 鈥淲e now have wall-to-wall Labor governments on the mainland, yet new coal and gas projects are still being approved. We must now mobilise the community for urgent climate action and against the strict anti-protest laws supported by the Coalition and current Labor governments.鈥
Clover Moore, City of Sydney Lord Mayor, said the City of Sydney 鈥渟upports peaceful civil disobedience and a peaceful blockade of the world's largest coal port鈥.
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