AT 6am on Tuesday 9 November, the first member of Blockade Australia halted coal trains headed towards the Newcastle Coal Port, the largest coal port in the world.

Zoe, 20, was suspended twenty metres up an electrical pylon from 6am, hanging on a rope tied to a monopole on the rail bridge that provides all access to the port.

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This was the second of multiple actions last week which started on Monday 8 November, which have shut down operations on the world’s biggest coal port to get in the way of the extractive Australian project.

Zoe is expected to be arrested as a result of causing hours of disruption to the functioning of the port, an integral piece of Australia’s economy.

“Australia is a death cult driving global climate collapse.

“This is a call for people to get in the way of it – most people on this continent want change but Australia doesn’t, so we need to do it ourselves with direct action like this,” they said.

For over seven consecutive days Blockade Australia has halted coal trains headed towards Newcastle Coal Port, the largest in the world.

Over eleven actions have been performed to bring the coal rail network to a standstill.

These blocks have continued with activists suspended from bridges, locked onto cars and critical rail infrastructure, climbing coal trains, rail pylons and trees attached to the train lines, causing the cancellation of over twenty coal freight trains.

Emma (52) and John (72) from Blockade Australia also sat atop a 1.5km long train, on a carriage full of coal bound for the Port of Newcastle in protest.

“Australia is intent on continuing to extract fossil fuels, we must confront this systemic corruption to avert the coming climate collapse as much as possible.

“We’re facing an existential crisis due to accelerating climate change- we must urgently reduce fossil fuel use and cannot possibly open up new fossil fuel infrastructure,” John said.

Over thirteen activists have put their hearts and lives on the line.

Blockade Australia says that while this action might feel scary and confrontational, the risks involved are nothing compared to what’s to come if we don’t act now on the climate crisis.

Blockade Australia plans to converge on Sydney in July next year for a full week of disruptive action against Australia’s destructive operations.

“Blockade Australia will continue to target sites of importance to the Australian operation until there is urgent and broad scale action on climate change.

“I believe that non-violent resistance is now a moral necessity,” abseiler, Tim said.

By Tara CAMPBELL