Quakers, Buddhists, atheists and members of the Uniting Church were among those holding a climate change vigil in front of Newcastle Local Court this morning ahead of the trial of the Kooragang 16. Seven women and nine men were arrested at a peaceful protest on the construction site of Newcastle's third coal loader on April 19, where close to 50 people successfully stopped work for 90 minutes.
All sixteen pleaded guilty to trespass. Magistrate Michael Morahan sentenced eleven of the arrestees, who had no prior convictions, to community service to be determined at a later date. The other five were fined $200 each and ordered to pay costs of $70 each.
Outside, the group's supporters, young and old, held banners in a festive atmosphere.
Tonight's budget is expected to feature an $18 billion budget surplus, to be invested in reducing "infrastructure bottlenecks", including the massive expansion of Australia's coal export capacity. Australia is already the world's biggest coal exporter, exporting 18% of the world's coal.
In Rangoon, aid organisations are already moving in to help the victims of a recent cyclone which killed over 100,000 people. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that such natural disasters will become more and more frequent as we continue to increase our greenhouse gas emissions.
More nonviolent direct action is expected at the Camp for Climate Action, to be held in Newcastle in July.
3 comments:
Should those who had no prior conviction appeal and ask for a section 10, no conviction to be recorded?
I assume that this was asked for at the trial
An appeal would be fairly expensive, but I agree that a section 10 would have been more in order. Once the community service is over the judge indicated that he would give a section 10 and not record convictions.
I agree that community service for community activists is a little bit absurd.
I saw NBN's coverage last night of the trial and the vigil. It was a classic mix of the bias and misinformation we have come to expect from them. Referring to the 'danger' these protesters posed to workers on the site of the new coal loader (there was no danger) and to the 'criminal record' of some of the protesters, it neglected to say that these prior convictions relate to past protest actions rather than armed hold-ups, terrorism etc.
When it comes to NBN news coverage, I suggest we should be alert and alarmed, and ask ourselves; what is their agenda?
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