Melbourne train halted as efforts to stop climate activists 'backfire'
A 62-year-old protester climbed atop of the train and said she feared for her grandchildren's future.
Like a scene out of a Hollywood western, a climate-change activist stopped and boarded a Thursday morning cargo train in Melbourne, sitting atop a container and preventing the train from continuing its journey.
Rather than wanting to steal the cargo like in the movies, 62-year-old Jacinta Walsh’s plan was to halt operations at Australia’s largest container port. Having jumped on top of the train, which was servicing the Port of Melbourne she began live-streaming to Facebook, saying the climate crisis makes her worried for her grandchildren’s future.
As part of her protest, she unveiled a banner that read "We change everything, or we lose everything.” The protest is designed to raise awareness about the destructive impact of fossil fuels on the environment, by temporarily stopping the flow of exports like coal out of Australia. “We can’t have exponential growth on a finite planet,” Ms Walsh said.
Attempts have been made by authorities to stop disruptive climate protests, but activists say their efforts have "backfired" and they are back in greater numbers.
Fast facts on climate protest
Australia is the world's second-largest exporter of coal
The UN's Antonio Guterres said countries increasing fossil fuel production are radical, not activists.
Disruptive climate protests remain deeply unpopular among much of the community.
Why are the climate protesters suddenly back?
State governments will no doubt be frustrated that the protesters are back. Ms Walsh's actions are part of a week-long action by Blockade Australia, which has stopped the supply of goods in Melbourne, Brisbane and Newcastle. The controversial group is back with a vengeance after police and state governments tried to shut down its operations last year. Its return marks the anniversary of NSW Police raids at its camp in the Hawkesbury town of Colo which resulted in dozens of arrests.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia on behalf of Blockade Australia, Zerene Grimshaw said she believes the 2022 raids were designed to “smash our ability to organise”.
“It's the first time we've seen that kind of tactic used against a social justice or environmental group in Australia for a long time,” she said.
Since the raids, Ms Grimshaw said membership of Blockade Australia has boomed. “The repression backfired. We now have thousands rather than hundreds in our network,” she claimed.
Are new protest laws necessary or draconian?
Direct action by climate activist groups has been met with a fierce response from state governments who have criticised their disruptive actions. Police have made a series of arrests, as they removed protesters and restored supply lines.
In May, South Australia’s Labor government proposed new penalties of $50,000 or three years jail after Extinction Rebellion protested outside an oil and gas conference. These new laws would eclipse the $22,000 fines introduced by the former NSW Liberal government in 2022.
Many Australians have been supportive of the government crackdowns, but experts have raised concerns they are having a “chilling effect” on the right of Australians to protest.
Earlier in June, Sophie McNeill, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Yahoo disrupting the status quo was historically required to achieve “massive social change”.
She believes governments in Australia are trying to publicly position themselves as “mature grown-ups” who are tackling climate change in a “sensible way”. At the same time, scientists warn the situation is urgent.
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Blockade Australia counts young activists among its members, but many activists taking to the streets are grandparents like Ms Walsh who boarded the train today. While other protesters are victims of climate-change-induced disasters like flooding and bushfire.
Following today's action which stopped the Melbourne train, Victoria police confirmed they arrested a 62-year-old Barkers Creek woman and she is expected to be charged with public nuisance and other related offences.
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