Sydney: Climate activists sit-in at Labor party head-quarters

Around 50 people attended a climate protest at Australian Labor Party Headquarters in Sydney this morning [June 23], angry at the NSW Government’s budget decision to expand coal power in the state.

Media release, Tuesday 23 June 2009

One of the protesters was arrested (but later released without charge) after around half of the group entered the 9th Floor offices of the ALP and refused to leave.

The Eraring Power Station, on Lake Macquarie south of Newcastle, is the equal largest power station in Australia, and emits around 12 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum. In last week's State Budget, the NSW Government allocated more than $200 million to expanding the power station. The expansion would see the capacity of Eraring increase from 2640MW to 2880MW.

The protest was called on short notice by climate activist groups Rising Tide Newcastle and Friends of the Earth Sydney.

Steve Phillips, spokesperson for Rising Tide Newcastle, said: “We've come here today to give the NSW Government a dose of reality, because they have clearly lost touch with it. Expanding coal-fired power during this time of climate crisis is perverse. All around the world, people are screaming for urgent cuts to greenhouse pollution, demanding that coal fired power stations be phased out and replaced with sustainable, renewable energy. The NSW Government is acting as though there is no crisis, so we have come here today to remind them.”

Holly Creenaune, spokesperson for Friends of the Earth Sydney, said: “Our governments are failing us, and more and more people are taking action into their own hands. The NSW Government will not get away with an expansion of coal fired power. If they attempt to expand the Eraring Power Station, they will meet a community campaign of civil disobedience and non-violent direct action.”

The protesters are calling for a rapid phase out of coal-fired power, and a socially just transition to renewable energy.

For comment:
Steve Phillips – 0437 275 119
Holly Creenaune – 0417 682 541
Photos will be available at www.risingtide.org.au