Climate protesters arrested for blocking world’s largest coal export port

Hundreds of Rising Tide protesters in kayaks blocked the Port of Newcastle, NSW on Sunday November 30, 2025, resulting in the arrest of 141 adults.

Transcript

00:01New South Wales Police have arrested 141 protesters during the fourth day of demonstrations at the Port of Newcastle.

00:09Located on the east coast of Australia, the Port of Newcastle is the world's largest coal export port.

00:15The protest group, known as Rising Tide, has been demanding that the federal government cancel fossil fuel projects

00:22and increase taxes for existing fossil fuel operations to 78%.

00:30On Sunday, November 30, 2025, hundreds of activists in kayaks blocked two coal ships from entering the port.

00:48Police disperse protesters at around 10am on Sunday after pursuing a boat that had allegedly entered an exclusion zone.

00:55Police say they take a zero-tolerance approach to actions that threaten public safety and the passage of vessels.

01:02Of those arrested, 121 were adults who were charged under the Crimes Act and the Marine Safety Act.

01:09And I'm sure it will be filled up with coal and I'm sure it will go out.

01:13We have disrupted it and we are right to do so because when that coal ship goes out, that coal will pay royalties of 8-12%,

01:22which is far less than every single person pays on their income tax.

01:26We are demanding that those coal exports that go out of Newcastle are taxed at 78% to make sure that we can fund workers in the future,

01:34since we know that the port of Newcastle says the coal export market is going to collapse in the next 10 years.

01:39Where is the money?

01:41So, thank you.

01:42Thank you very much.

01:46Thank you very much.

01:48Thank you, very much.