Coal protest to go ahead on harbour after court rejects police objections

Résumé détaillé

The NSW Supreme Court has approved a planned climate protest on Newcastle Harbour, dismissing a bid by NSW Police to stop it.

The NSW Supreme Court has rejected a challenge from the state's police commissioner to a climate protest planned in Newcastle.

The protest, organised by Rising Tide, is set to see hundreds of activists paddle out in the Port of Newcastle.

The court heard the flotilla will stretch across the harbour, blocking the shipping channel for up to 40 minutes.

A climate protest on Newcastle Harbour will go ahead as planned after the Supreme Court rejected an application by NSW Police to stop it.

Rising Tide's Paddle for the Plant flotilla is set to see hundreds of people in kayaks take to the water tomorrow.

Handing down his judgement this afternoon, Justice Edward Muston said he had to balance the interests of the public with the concerns of police.

"The public interests in the facilitations of political expression through assembly outweighs the legitimate concerns which have been expressed by the commissioner," he said.

Protest organisers in NSW must submit a notice of intention to hold a public assembly to the police commissioner, known as a Form 1.

The NSW Police Commissioner opposed this application and asked the Supreme Court to prohibit the event due to safety concerns for those attending and other users of the harbour.

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