Annabelle* knew before she paddled into the world’s largest coal port that she might be arrested. The 71-year-old arrived in Newcastle on Sunday with thousands of others to join Rising Tide, one of Australia’s largest annual climate protests.
After a signal was given that a coal ship was coming, she entered the port in a kayak with hundreds of others. She managed to paddle beyond yellow buoys that marked the start of a zone the Minns government created for the duration of the protest – which gave police additional powers to arrest people. The police floated on boats just inside the zone, ready to pluck anyone out of the water who might defy their direction to turn back.
“I just paddled and paddled, madly paddled,” she tells Guardian Australia. “I was determined to get into that channel, it’s the first time I’ve done something like this, and I wanted to stop that ship.”
View image in fullscreen By Monday morning, more than 130 people had been arrested and charged under the Marine Safety Act or Crimes Act for blocking the shipping lane. Photograph: Dean Sewell/The Guardian
Cheers erupted when the ship turned around, the third to be blocked during the six-day protest.
Annabelle is among the estimated 8,000 who’ve travelled from across Australia to take part in the pr
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