Commuters vent fury as climate change protester dangles from busy Brisbane bridge

A man is dangling from Brisbane's inner-city Story Bridge as part of climate protests targeting major Australian cities in a week-long campaign.

Police are negotiating with the Extinction Rebellion protester, who is livestreaming on the internet as he sits over the Brisbane River on what appears to be a hammock.

Police initially closed off one lane of the bridge, prompting traffic chaos during rush hour on Tuesday morning.

"I'm actually hanging underneath the Story Bridge," the man said on the Facebook livestream.

"I'm up here for my daughters. There's a climate emergency and our government hasn't take sufficient action, really."

The man, who claims to be an experienced rock climber, said he is "perfectly safe" and "more than happy just to hang out here" until Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has considered his demand to declare a climate emergency.

He said he has asked not to be rescued by police, who have indicated they are prepared to wait for him to return to solid ground.

"The way I've rigged it up is that it would actually be dangerous for the police to come and rescue me," the protester said.

It is understood he has supplies to last him several days under the bridge.

It’s the latest in a long line of stunts by climate change activists across Brisbane in recent months and appears to be testing the patience of locals who have been badly effected during commuting hours.

“So a protester has decided to dangle himself under the Story Bridge with his various flags. Do they realise that they're just turning everyone against them?” one person wrote on Twitter.

“Ironically also causing more environment damage and cost than they're preventing.”

“Hey dude hanging off the Story Bridge. I’m all for climate change and wanting to save my earth, but delaying traffic, closing lanes off and having cars sit and idle more than they normally would, is not helping,” another said.

“You’ve seen old mate in Brisbane? I’m just trying to go to work & he is dangling off the Story Bridge. Police have shut it down... meanwhile, ambulances can’t get through & someone is being mugged in a nearby park! Well done!” another sarcastically wrote.

Also in Brisbane, at least two people have been arrested on Tuesday morning as around 200 protesters block major intersections in the CBD.

One group has locked themselves to barrels filled with concrete, while others have blocked a road with a trailer.

The first day of Extinction Rebellion protests on Monday saw 30 arrests in Sydney and 10 in Melbourne, including one activist who refused to enter a bail agreement and will appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

The movement is running a "spring rebellion" to pressure the Australian government into declaring a climate emergency.

- with AAP

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