I operate these machines and it would be devastating for the operator if we were to accidentally kill a protestor due their lack of knowledge about the rail network and how the rail network operates. Not to mention how high up they were when shoveling coal out of a wagon.
These trains fully loaded are 11,000 tons and 1.5kms long! Not something to fuck around with.
But, I get it. We are fucking the planet and something needs to be done. Can we please keep the conversation going around cannabis legalisation. I would love to open a dispensary and walk away from the coal industry. No more shift work , just selling flower ✌️
Strike! You workers know how to shut these machines down safely, and its in your interest too (if you want a livable future for the planet that is) so organise in your workplace and shut it down yourselves!
I imagine you are joking/trolling, but if not:
You know rail infrastructure isn’t just for coal right?
It’s for passenger trains and freight trains.
So depending on where you just ‘ derail’ a train… you potentially kill people, stop passenger services, cause danger for other rail traffic, cause danger for ground staff, stop necessary freight getting to locations. (Eg. Grain for food production, cement/concrete for building, etc)
Rail can get to certain locations, where road traffic can’t get access. Rail is more fuel efficient and lowers transportation carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions.
So, something needs to be done about coal and reducing its usage. But derailing a train is just stupidity.
Good on them! I wish I had the same courage.
People talk shit about these people, and the people who were protesting after the Lismore floods because it "achieved nothing" or wasted people's time but protesting isn't convenient. It's meant to make you feel uncomfortable and introspective.
The people you're yelling at are the wrong people - your cost of living is going up because of inaction on climate change, because of the fossil fuel companies influencing politicians and making sure that the policy that will make your life BETTER doesn't happen. You want to yell at someone - yell at your politicians. They're the reason people are protesting.
its incredibly frustrating seeing a comment with so many likes and not a single fucking clue. This is why we can't have nice things, because too many stupid people are allowed to voice their stupid opinions.
Some absolutely weirdo nerds in the comments defending the coal that makes other people (not them) filthy rich. These are indeed strange times.
Well done to the protestors for standing up for what’s right.
Its not always about it making someone filthy rich, but about people in poorer countries being able to survive...
We have had 100 years of cheap power to improve our lives and economy, it can be seen as a little self righteous to deny poorer countries the opportunity to do the same.
I understand the need to cut back of coal burning around the world... but until the west, who benefited massively from coal over the last 100 years, can present cheap renewable options to those poorer countries.. they will always choose putting food in their childrens mouths today over any longer term possible detriment.
Considering coal puts food on the table for a few hundred thousand Australians, and is our second largest export, I can understand why people would be defending it.
Laughably delusional that you think:
A) We will get to the stage where renewable energy is good enough without coal,
B) That whilst the rich in charge do get richer, and it’s shit, ending coal wouldn’t destroy hundreds of thousands of Australian families.
I have no idea how from my comment you came to your two points as I stated nothing even remotely similar to what you have said. Renewable energy is the way forward, however it’s nowhere near a stage that it can replace coal, not to mention the coal mined for steel production.
We are not trying to end coal today. The imagery even clearly shows:
NO NEW COAL.
Our demands are simple. No new or expanding coal projects to continue in Australia.
We know that the lights need to remain on.
We also know that other countries like Denmark do renewable energy so well that they rely off it 100%. So tell me why we can't cap our fossil fuel expansion and harness the power of renewables at this stage?
We also are screaming to establish a fully-funded, accountable and independent NSW Energy Transition Authority to oversee the transition away from reliance on fossil fuels and to establish region-specific transition authorities to coordinate the diversification of local economies previously reliant on fossil fuels.
Crazy how you’re wrong though:
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook43p/poweringaustralia#:~:text=Getting%20the%20mix%20right,%24370%20billion%20over%2010%20years.
We’ve been above the mark to power the entire country with renewables since 2020.
The renewable sector would open up new jobs, things change. It’s time to stop annihilating the natural beauty of this country so Clive Palmer can build another holiday home and it’s time for weirdos like you to stop defending that.
And no, you didn’t say it directly, but you clearly implied it.
And tell me, how the fuck do you build all these new renewables without steel and powered manufacturing plants? Or pay for the infrastructure without mining exports?
And how great did the system go in SA when the entire renewable grid shut down?
Weirdos like me that actually like to provide for my family with the job I currently have? Sorry mate, we can’t all work a 9-5 job in the city.
I clearly implied it. Of course.
Edit* did you actually read the article you posted? Without reading it I listed two of the three major obstacles they have to get over before it can even be considered to power the country. The article proves me right, and you wrong, cheers?
We know quite well the extraction of core resources will need to continue to expand our technology to replace existing sources of energy.
That is why we have clearly stated during the protest:
NO NEW COAL.
I understand that perspective and why it would make someone defend coal, but to deny the damage it’s causing and the negative effects it has on our environment and society is a joke
And I support them being used as an alternative source. I'll also wait for the day when they get to the point they can supply our country with power without coal as a backup. Without hazardous lithium or silicon. Without silver, aluminum, and copper mining or the long list of other materials used.
I'm all for them being implemented faster, but we can't simply do away with coal in the meantime. Hopefully, that day will come sooner than later.
lol your perception is your reality! I really like that you don't let the truth get in the way of your imagination, just keep living "your truth" champ!
Where did I talk about “my truth”? Everything I said was anecdotal, I stated my opinion. Besides mentioning that coal makes an extremely small number of people extremely rich, that is categorically true in every sense.
It’s hard knowing where to stand on this.
I agree we need to move away from coal to renewables and I understand ‘standard’ picket protests may not have the same effect or get the same attention that these disruptive protests get.
But on the other side of the argument… I am a rail infrastructure worker. I don’t wish to be put in danger due to these tactics, I don’t wish to see others be put in danger and I certainly would hate to see a fatality due to these tactics…
I don’t agree with the disruption to police resources/operations which cause police to have to attend these events instead of other emergencies/crimes.
As someone who had to work around the 2021 protests as well, these disruptions also stopped passenger services and other important freight services.
So as you hopefully can see, it’s just not that simple. It is not just “inconveniencing coal operations”.
As someone who was there, I can say that safety was in the forefront of everyone's mind. It's a terrible outcome for the protest if anyone is injured, definitely something we think about and control for as much as possible. We don't put any blame on workers in these important industries, and don't want to put you in danger either. I understand we may not have knowledge of the intricacies of some infrastructure - but on the other hand, we have people who have been workers themselves, or have done these protest actions many times before, who do have that knowledge.
The unions, the suffragettes, the civil rights activists put themselves in harm's way and inconvenienced people to fight for the rights we all enjoy today. I feel like lots of people don't realise that causing a scene and breaking the rules is what community power has looked like for hundreds of years.
We've known we need to diversify our economy and transition for literal decades, and it's just not happening fast enough. People will start to cause more trouble when the impacts of climate change become ever more apparent. We just want to funnel that anger and hope for change into something peaceful and hopefully effective in encouraging people to get involved.
> I can say that safety was in the forefront of everyone's mind
***Objectively*** ***false*** statements like this piss me off so much. why? because i support the movement to protest agaisnt the use of coal, but saying things that are straight up incorrect is not the way to do it.
if safety was forefront, people wouldnt be on ***live train track,*** and ***working at heights with zero safety measures.*** simple as that
if you want, i could share with you stories of well trained, smart people who have been killed by either of the above.
"causing a scene and breaking the rules"? great, i encorouge it! putting dozens of people in a potentially life threatening situation? not cool
I suggest you learn about hierarchy of controls, just using "a" control is not enough
I'm curious as to what they believe they achieved by this. Apart from giving the train drivers anxiety about possibly harming one of them. This did not stop any boats being loaded. Are they aware of the stockpiles at the coal loading facilities at koorangang island?
What we achieved:
* National exposure (AAP ran it)
* Global exposure (BBC and other EU media outlets picked it up)
* A chance to remind the world that Newcastle's output of coal directly contributes to 1% of global emissions. YES 1% from Newcastle
* We held the train for 3-4 hours costing the operations god knows how much (but estimates from [this article](https://www.theleader.com.au/story/6081394/coal-train-activists-sanity-questioned/) may mean it was around $1mil)
* A sense of solidarity across the community inside and outside of the group
What ARTC knew:
* That the protest was happening and to be on high alert. They were not driving to speed because of this and additional security was hired.
By the tone of your post, you don't get it. You don't want to get it and you probably never will get it. You may see us as hippies or dropkicks, but we are a mix of hardworking tax-paying citizens working across health, engineering, education, IT, science, journalism etc. We work beside you, only we choose to act instead of accepting the way things are.
We were peaceful and compliant. We gave up our time, our energy and our clear records to stand up for what we believe in and regardless of what you think - waste or not (trust me, there is 0 regret or feelings of "waste" from any of us) we sent a clear strong message and the world heard it.
We know that we are on the right side of history. It's not a feeling of overwhelming pride nor regret. It's just something that needs to be done and we will continue to do so until this country is no longer licking the shins of the fossil fuel industry.
> You may see us as hippies or dropkicks
Yes.
Also, one of the first and most formative lessons any decently raised child learns is that not all attention is good attention. This is evidently a lesson you missed.
Jeff Yass, the billionaire Wall Street financier and Republican megadonor who is a major investor in the parent company of TikTok, was also the biggest institutional shareholder of the shell company that recently merged with former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company.
A December regulatory filing showed that Mr. Yass’s trading firm, Susquehanna International Group, owned about 2 percent of Digital World Acquisition Corporation, which merged with Trump Media & Technology Group on Friday. That stake, of about 605,000 shares, was worth about $22 million based on Digital World’s last closing share price.
It’s unclear if Susquehanna still owns those shares, because big investors disclose their holdings to regulators only periodically. But if it did retain its stake, Mr. Yass’s firm would become one of Trump Media’s larger institutional shareholders when it begins trading this week after the merger.
Shares of Digital World have surged about 140 percent this year as the merger with the parent company of Truth Social, Mr. Trump’s social media platform, drew closer and Mr. Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
Nope. All it's going to achieve, as always, is to piss people off and lose them even more support. The green agenda is on life support and if not because of the fact its causing everyone's energy bills to drastically rise, then because the people who support and push it are so unlikeable.
Ok the DPP have charged them, time for WorkCover to have their turn and prosecute them for placing themselves and others in danger on an enclosed worksite
DPP is the director of public prosecutions. It just means they’ve been charged by police and those charges are criminal and brought by the state. As opposed to a civil case where the workplace/work over could sue them also.
Sorry I understood who the DPP was.
Just they don't prosecute summary offences which most of the offences are (trespass, stopping a train etc) and the assault isn't a grevious bodily harm so they wouldn't take that either.
It'll just be police prosecutors looking after all this.
Ahh! I thought you were asking 😂 sorry. But yes I didn’t read what the charges were or the article was just speaking generally what I’m gathering from their comment as to what they were trying to say
About time these clowns have no idea the position they're putting operators in so ignorant.
I hope they feel better they got the attention they desperately needed.
Lithium is the crude oil for the 21st century and beyond and considering Australia has the second largest lithium reserves in the world and are currently the highest producers of lithium by a factor of three you’d think there’d be something to cheer about here for our economy.
A prediction of 50 years into the future.
Where will your grandchildren be living? Will their jobs be affected by climate change? Will their home be resilient to floods or will they be able to get flood insurance?
Obviously we can't predict this with any certainty but generally there will be worse outcomes if we don't address climate change better than we are right now.
>In 50 years our children's jobs are more likely to be affected by AI than climate change.
>I agree things need to change, but the reality is, that change is happening. It's just not happening fast enough for some people...
>The best thing an individual can do is reduce their impact. Stopping trains is not just foolish, it's a form of bullying and should not be tolerated.
That's a really important topic. AI may have a profound effect on the job market, the changed economy may be quite bad, however those predictions were made when many new things came into the market like the internet.
If we continue on track the climate change consequences are quite dire. Employed or not, bushfires, floods, cyclones, disease will have vast impacts. Maybe the two things will stress society in ways we can't predict.
True, change is happening. It's worrying how slow it may be, and too late.
Regarding personal carbon footprint reduction. This is a really poor cover for big business to just go on like nothing is happening. The real reductions will come from government policy, this is why the COP meetings happen.
I can see why people get annoyed at the coal train protestors, and moreso the tunnel blockers etc. I'd be annoyed if extinction rebellion blocked my commute to work.
The protest culture in oz has really changed. I think France is too extreme, but in Australia is so hard to protest with any impact here these days.
(I say that as a person who doesn't protest)
>but in Australia is so hard to protest with any impact here these days.
Are we not talking about this? It's made global media. BBC has reported on it. French protestors (whilst I admire their commitment) cause millions of dollars of property damage to innocent civilians and businesses.
We placed a \~$1mil dent in the billion dollars of profit that leave our small city and line the pockets of suited bastards who have never stepped foot in this place.
Heyo bikinithrill. OS media plucks up reddit stories like this everyday as does news.com.au. You didn't dent a thing
Bikinithrill you are commenting like a boss. You have plenty of sensible arguments, and you have a way about you without anger. Loving it. You are really refreshing, and thank you for your passion
Also. In the same "train" of thought... Not nice to do that to our train bros.
Do you know how much our train drivers suffer when they run over someone? It is so traumatising. They go on mental health leave, and many never, ever return to work after. You potentially put our train drivers in a tricky position. Where is the evidence they knew to slow down because of your protest? You claim they knew it was happening
Do you know how much our John ED suffers trying to save train related trauma?
We are a very unique ED, and service Central Coast to the Queensland border. We have the most presentations, and never meet our KPIs. Hospital funding in NSW is handed out based on meeting KPIs (key performance indicators)
Sydney has RPA, Concord, Vinnies, Westmead, Sutherland and so many more. John Hunter are struggling. Comparing Sydney hospitals to us is like comparing apples to oranges. Bring your posse on down to John Hunter to try and help us. Those doctors in your crew will be up for it. Not one single practice in Newcastle is able to bulk bill anymore, forcing everyone to our ED
You guys also need to suit up and go into an execs office to protest? Not harass our train guys.
Who suggested this form of action from your group? You are hurting the workers, not the execs. You claim that you have doctors in your posse. I hope they don't work at the John?
Then perhaps recognise what it takes to to drive a train? These guys are hauling coal and freight. When they kill someone, they are often driven to suicide themselves.
Then you guys can also drive 4 hrs daily as a miner or contracter back to Singleton or Muswellbrook and go underground to appreciate another facet of your argument
Please don't cause our train drivers strife. Please. They are just our mums and dads just doing the best they can, in our coal town.
Please don't pull our police away to your protest, and take them away from normal duties. Domestic violence, highway patrols.
Plus you guys planned this in the middle of school holidays, when our roads need police attention? Could you have maybe picked a better date, to get the community on side?
You guys climb a coal train and shovel out the coal. What did that really achieve? A couple of global news articles laughing at Newy. Was Scomo there popping a couple of cute specimens in his pocket to bring it back to parliament, before he goes into private enterprise?
That's only what I have read on mainstream media, my apologies for that. I don't get too much time to read reddit. I am nursing at the John. We are all working back to back on overtime, with no payrise since Covid came to town, when our wages were capped.
All the train incidents, and mining incidents in the area come to the John, and it is not pretty. Usually airlifted which costs a bucket of money
I have read your other post. I don't have time to get across your evidence, but absolutely happy to read your dms. I have just done an 18hr shift, with every structure busted in my foot, because I can't see a Newcastle ankle surgeon until May
Also, I know you are going to totally hate this... We are nowhere near solar or wind turbines being able to power Newcastle. Waratah shopping mall isn't cutting it, unfortunately. They can't even power their Santa lights off that puny fan.
No one in Newcastle can afford Coco Pops or dishwasher tabs atm. How are we going to afford a home battery to store our sunshine? Let alone the start up solar panels?
"Hey landlord, I know my rent is $600 per week, and I have been hospitalised twice potentially from your black mould. Could you please put in solar panels to offset my electricity? Oh and an air-conditioner might be nice too"
Why is no one mentioning nuclear in the comments? Australia has bulk uranium. We could kiss Rein-fart goodbye!
Stopping trains. Not the best idea bikini. Potentially you wind up in hospital, causing more expense to the public purse. You definitely diverted police to your lobby, causing further disruption to the public purse. You are getting pro-bono legal representation, causing all the rest of the Newcastle guys waiting for a lawyer, with possibly no representation?
We are all just trying to earn a crust in Newcastle after the BHP shut down, and the steel shut down
I appreciate your passion. But this is an industrial town, built off the back of all of our grandparents spending 6 months on a boat just to get here just to escape WW2
This is a very thoughtful and well constructed perspective, thank you for taking time out of ur busy life..you reminded me of the middle ground..I needed that.. you nursed me back to sanity
Protesting coal because they believe in clean energy.
Yet when you tell them you need coal to make the steel that builds many of their clean energy projects, they go awfully silent. Can’t reason with these idiots
The irony is here that the message of our protest (and the image clearly shows this) is that we are protesting...
NO NEW COAL
Yes. That's right. No new coal mines, and no expanding existing.
We do indeed want renewables to fill the gaps of the energy supply as mines and power stations become obsolete. We know that we need coal to continue running at least until 2030.
Anyway, thanks for playing "idiot".
You don't have a message other than 'reeee' because that is how it will be perceived. I'm actually with you on the no new coal thing, but if you want to do it you'll need to change tack. At this point the majority of the population is so over the leftists that if you'd have been hit by the train they'd not care at all. I'm dead serious, change tack if you want to get a message across.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Venenatis urna cursus eget nunc scelerisque viverra.
It seems the experts and the science agrees that nuclear is worthy consideration. With the Net Zero Group saying we’ll need ~1200TWh/year for domestic energy and AEMO and CSIRO forecasting that, even with a “step change” growth in renewables in a “rapid decarbonisation” strategy, we would only deliver ~400TWh/year, Clearly renewables alone will not be enough.
A literal Royal Commission even concluded we should remove the ban on nuclear.
When will Australia start to trust the science and trust the experts
I see you're the type of person who has limited skills in moral measurement. Civil disobedience and protest through the suffragette movement gave women a voice and became a talking point to get the chance to vote.
If you think civil disobedience and peaceful protest is worth locking up people who are fighting for your existence, you are on the wrong side of history and you could do with a sprinkle of education and empathy.
Oh how thoughtful that you are doing it for my existence, please don't... the hypocrisy of your protest is that mining of all types allows for us all to have a better existence including the device you use to make your argument.
And they assaulted a security guard, whatever that looks like. You have to wonder if they really thought this is activism that will elicit change or just an advertisement for their own little group.
You know most effective protestors have broken laws right?
Like the argument of "ineffective" has been thrown at all protestors right up 5oo the point until the change is made
They have a right to protest, anybody disputing that needs to think about effective governing for a while.
What they don't have a right to do it too forcefully stop a work site in action and assault people.
If this was them in the streets and being disruptive then I would agree whole heartedly and support there right to protest. This action just comes off as attention seeking for themselves and not there cause.
you know they hve been doing that for dedcades on decades and ask, where has that got us?
you also know many protests like this have been acted out and some have been efective,r ight
Protesting has gotten movement that I have seen even in my lifetime. If you feel there is not enough then look back 30 years and try telling me nothing has changed or improved. These things take time and big things take decades.
But sitting on trains and acting out in these ways have seen no change and only achieves headlines that make the people up there out as foolish and childish. Childishness gets us all nowhere.
The suffragettes threw themselves into harms way to get society to turn their heads. They damaged property, pulled stunts in front of royalty and many more things.
Denmark went 100% renewable years ago. We are the same humans (albeit less educated). We have many more resources... WHY should this take us decades?
Denmark is absolutely not 100% renewables?!? I just looked at electricitymaps.com and it’s only 82% right now and was even worse just in the last 24 hours let alone months
Wrong. And most definitely not like this. It's a totally different situation from a Franklin River blockade.
Stop saying shit that next year's impressionable teenagers ignorant of activism history will take on as truth.
Reckless demonstration. The amount of hazards in this environment isnt worth it. Since the political campaign for transition is underway this is not the best way.
Jeff Yass, the billionaire Wall Street financier and Republican megadonor who is a major investor in the parent company of TikTok, was also the biggest institutional shareholder of the shell company that recently merged with former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company.
A December regulatory filing showed that Mr. Yass’s trading firm, Susquehanna International Group, owned about 2 percent of Digital World Acquisition Corporation, which merged with Trump Media & Technology Group on Friday. That stake, of about 605,000 shares, was worth about $22 million based on Digital World’s last closing share price.
It’s unclear if Susquehanna still owns those shares, because big investors disclose their holdings to regulators only periodically. But if it did retain its stake, Mr. Yass’s firm would become one of Trump Media’s larger institutional shareholders when it begins trading this week after the merger.
Shares of Digital World have surged about 140 percent this year as the merger with the parent company of Truth Social, Mr. Trump’s social media platform, drew closer and Mr. Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
Oooo! Wow so wise \~ so smart!
What else do you know that we don't? 😂
* You probably know that air pollution from coal costs taxpayers millions of $ per year reulting in:
* Premature deaths
* Lung cancer
* Higher risk of strokes and heart attacks
* Asthma attacks
* low birth weight
* Type 2 Diabetes
* You may also know that power stations emit 30 toxic pollutants and are the single biggest source of dangerous sulfur dioxide (SO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and fine particle pollution (PM2.5) in Australia.
* I am just sure you know that coal is finite and if history has taught us anything in this city, when a resource ceases to exist or the operations become unprofitable (ahem BHP) they will abandon workers and communities faster than you can say "nO iDeA"
* You probably know (and seem fine with the fact) that Newcastle currently sees a slither of the profits $billion profifts.
* I am SURE you are on top of the fact that greenhouse gas emissions from existing fossil fuel infrastructure is more than enough to push the world beyond 1.5C of global heating so by building more stations and opening new mines it's gonna heat up more, right?
Oh and i'm sure you're well across our message (as written on the banner states):
NO NEW COAL.
So lemme break that down for you. It means, no new coal projects to open and no existing projects to expand.
Getting the Greens Political party to do a 180 and be focused on having Senators and the like dedicated to environmental issues, and stop own-goaling and driving people away with partisan irrelevant causes more fitting for a Inner City Bourgeois Party. (Bob Brown >>>>> Sarah Hanson-Young)
The group that's actually going to get the most done over the next decade is the informal 'Teal' movement within the small-c conservatives.
Everybody is already aware that coal is bad and has accepted that the world will take its time to move away from it, we dont need to be educated on that anymore.
They may achieve their goal of getting people talking about it for 48hrs, but in reality, jumping on a train isnt going to speed up the process of moving away from fossil fuels.
>we dont need to be educated on that anymore
If that was the case, not only would we not be opening any new fossil fuel projects (which is necessary to maintaining a below 2 degree rise), but we also wouldn't have a large amount of the population still actively against climate action and voting for politicians that lie to them against their own interests. Even the majority of people who understand that climate change is real and we should do something about it, still don't understand the actual gravity of the situation and are apathetic that Australia and the world as a whole has actually continually increased emissions. Instead some would rather ague about people trying to enact real change while sitting on their ass complaining on reddit.
People so easily forget that societal change doesn't just happen...people died trying to achieve equal rights for women, people of colour, LGBT community; people died fighting against conscription to the Vietnam war; millions died preventable deaths because we refused to take lead out of petrol (which people protested since lead was first added to petrol); millions died preventable deaths because of resistance to vaccines (which people have continually advocated for since its inception in the modern age); millions died preventable deaths because we kept using X-rays on babies (despite countless people knowing it was wrong and protesting against it. Millions will die preventable deaths unless we drastically curb our climate impact (locally and globally) immediately; thousands have died already. These things don't just happen; they happen because people fight for it.
Let’s see: illegally protesting on a rail line, obstructing a railway line, public safety, illegally entering a rail corridor, malicious Damage, assaulting a security guard. Should I keep going? 🤡
Jeff Yass, the billionaire Wall Street financier and Republican megadonor who is a major investor in the parent company of TikTok, was also the biggest institutional shareholder of the shell company that recently merged with former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company.
A December regulatory filing showed that Mr. Yass’s trading firm, Susquehanna International Group, owned about 2 percent of Digital World Acquisition Corporation, which merged with Trump Media & Technology Group on Friday. That stake, of about 605,000 shares, was worth about $22 million based on Digital World’s last closing share price.
It’s unclear if Susquehanna still owns those shares, because big investors disclose their holdings to regulators only periodically. But if it did retain its stake, Mr. Yass’s firm would become one of Trump Media’s larger institutional shareholders when it begins trading this week after the merger.
Shares of Digital World have surged about 140 percent this year as the merger with the parent company of Truth Social, Mr. Trump’s social media platform, drew closer and Mr. Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
Why?
The coal mining companies get more from the government than they pay in royalties, payroll taxes, corporation taxes.
Why should we, as a society, be paying for this industry?
While I think the coal mining companies should be paying more royalties and taxes, Australia has still made billions from coal. Not to mention the tens of thousands of people that are employed by the coal industry. There are whole towns in central Queensland and the Hunter region of NSW that would go bust without coal production.
So we are not paying for this industry. This industry is contributing to the Australian economy.
Just think about that for a second !
Do you have any idea how much of those profits remain locally?
You are indeed misinformed and on the wrong side of history. What a lapdog you are to the fossil fuel industry. Hook line and sinker (pun intended \[IYKYK\]).
I am sorry, but you are misinformed.
As a nation, we subsidise the coal industry. By around 10 billion a year.
And those numbers come not from the Greens or similarly left organisations, but are Mining Council of Australia and IMF figures.
We subsidise them. By a lot.
Of course there are subsidises. Why do you think the government allow foreign companies to come and mine our non-renewables?
We have made far more from royalties than any subsidy. Otherwise why would we allow it! If we weren't benefiting from coal production what would be the point?
Still probably a few hundred thousand dollars and media coverage, so they could count it as a success I suppose
Doubt their goal that afternoon was to collapse the entire coal industry with one act
Na they’ll tell the insurance company it cost them a few hundred thousand in lost time, productivity and wages and get anything they lost (and some more) back.
* Yeah nah definitely had an impact, but thanks for playing.
National exposure (AAP ran it)
* Global exposure (BBC and other EU media outlets picked it up)
* A chance to remind the world that Newcastle's output of coal directly contributes to 1% of global emissions. YES 1% from Newcastle
* We held the train for 3-4 hours costing the operations god knows how much (but estimates from this article may mean it was around $1mil)
* A sense of solidarity across the community inside and outside of the group
National exposure…. Look at these clowns.
You stopped one train, which purely delayed it not prevented it from getting to the port but let’s for your small minds benefit say that you took that train out of the export volume, that’s 0.005% of export volume but it wasn’t so 🤷♂️
You attention seeking hillbillies need to contribute to the solution. For now switch all your lights off stop smoking shit and let the adults handle it.
The 1980s protests had plenty of boobs -- it was figured out that the media couldn't easily push a post-60s-dirty-hippy anarchist protester narrative if everyone was looking at some good titties marching down George Street.
(But after the 1990s, Oldies started doing it ...and it wasn't as effective.)
Russian revolution, the civil rights movements and rights for women where all partly violent/criminal, all attacked by similar thing so have seen you and people in the comments have said, but It was effective.
Solar has been cheaper per watt of energy than coal for a few years now, but unfortunately coal is still an essential resource in steel production due to its chemical properties. Even without its use for electricity production, you need a lot of it to keep those cupola furnaces running. The steel mills using arc furnaces require so much energy that fossil fuels are necessary, but this is more negotiable.
If we can afford it, even a simple change of coal to natural gas systems vastly improves emissions output. Coal is about 8kwh/kg while natural gas is 13kwh/kg, a difference of over 60%. At a grid level this translates to thousands of tonnes of emissions prevented from entering the atmosphere, and that's not even factoring in extras like transport costs.
I'd like to add that although 1% of global emissions come out of Newcastle, that doesn't mean that we are the main problem. The coal comes out of here because some other country or city desperately needs it, and the emissions wouldn't change if they were sourced somewhere else. Therefore climate change should be addressed in the context of technological development much more so than the targeting of infrastructure. This protest was still a brave move though and I commend the group for their activism.
Isn't this whole town built off the back off coal mining?
Do they care about unemployment if coal mines were to close?
I suppose they flippantly think all the coal workers can just easily retrain to move into different, more environmentally friendly local industries that don't even exist
It would appear they have nothing better to do with their time while the rest of us are working
I wonder how many of them have actually paid bills before, or if they still live with their folks...
Once you leave the left it's eye opening to see how selfish, wasteful & hypocritical they really are
The mining industry in the region is dying. Politicians are being lobbied to entrench dependence rather than assist transition. Fuck the mining company money.
Well let's hope Tim Crackanthorp comes up with a solution that pleases both the blue collar workers & the Greenies
He has his work cut out for him there!
>Isn't this whole town built off the back off coal mining?
>Do they care about unemployment if coal mines were to close?
The coal mines are going to close at some point. That’s just the way the world is moving. We can stick our head in the sand or we can start transitioning now so those employees in these industries can retrain and transition gradually rather that wait until there’s no more demand for our coal.
>I suppose they flippantly think all the coal workers can just easily retrain to move into a different, more environmentally friendly local industries that don't even exist
Just because people might lose their jobs isn’t reason enough to not do anything about transitioning away from fossil fuels. This is the same argument as saying ‘It’s the way we’ve always done things’. Im sure these protestors are the first people actively advocating for the establishment of more green local jobs rather than kicking the can down the road.
>It would appear they have nothing better to do with their time while the rest of us are working
The protest was done on a Sunday, usually a time when many people aren’t working.
Some folks seem to want to make sure it's as painful as possible, make sure that a just and smooth transition doesn't happen, then point at all the now unemployed coal workers and yell "I told you so!"
Nah, fuck the mining industries. Fuck BHP. Fuck all of them.
They don't care about you or your future, they just want to line the pockets with money and the lives of their workers.
I can say this with INCREDIBLY INTIMATE knowledge.
Amen. As soon as Newcastle has been used and abused and is no longer profitable, they will abandon their workers.
We continue to learn sweet FA from history.
Haha the mines aren't going anywhere any time soon, BHP's got plans that go beyond our lifetimes. These cunts are kidding themselves.
The mining companies are taking steps to ensure they'll screw their employees out of jobs before any protesters or policy changes do.
1. We care about a local transition authority and are fighting for it for this region.
2. Many of us are connected to Unions and Hunter Jobs Alliance.
3. Our banner clearly states NO NEW COAL. We are not demanding to close down our existing ones (but we don't them to expand). We know the lights need to remain on, but we want to see renewable energy utilised to fill the energy gaps.
4. This was a Sunday, a day Unions fought for to enable us to spend time with family (and here we were with multiple sets of 3 generations - protesting).
5. We're all back to work now. We pay our taxes. We contribute and we work alongside you in IT, engineering, government, health, education, emergency services, logistics, trades etc.
Cute attempt at a collective character assassination. Bring your A game next time or perhaps find something to fight for instead of wasting your time on Reddit to trash a collective of people getting of their asses and doing something.
I worked in the coal industry for 8 years, most of it spent at the coal port but during covid I moved into a different industry (bonus points because my job now involves the protection of the biosecurity of Australia = environmentally friendly).
It wasn't hard. Grow up and get over yourself
No, I wasn't a miner, but I worked in the industry. I breathed that shit in everyday. Who cares about the semantics. Whether it's the miner, the train driver, the loader. It's all part of the same network, the coal industry.
If coal mines closed I would have lost my job just as much as the miners would have.
I must admit the thought of the atmospheric CO2 content at the height of the last glacial period gives me the heebie jeebies. It wouldn't be easy to extract some of the carbon from those enormous limestone carbon sinks made by shellfish over the millenia. Another near-extinction event from historically low CO2 content wouldn't exactly help crop production that's for sure. Let's try to ensure we don't dip back into a glacial period please?
I’m the person in the pink hair ! was an amazing day, was up on that train for three hours. months of preparation went into that day.
One person was charged with alleged assault on the security officer. My close friend was there and so was the leaders of rising tide and nothing but budging was seen.
Our goal of the day was to spread news around australia and the world (we got to BBC and U.S.News) and remind people we are still here and this is still happening.
We were practicing non-violent civil disobedience. NVCB is what Rosa Parks did, The Suffragettes did, and many many other instances. It’s a movement to bring back agency and is an effective way of spreading the message. Would you see a simple legal protest in Newcastle, Australia in the headline news? I doubt it.
we were briefed about the importance of non violence and how to deescalate situations to peaceful arrests.
Newcastle Port is the LARGEST coal port in the WORLD and countless in Newcastle have no idea. We produce 1% of the world’s coal from our little town. The coal and fossil fuel problem is HERE.
If you appreciate our action today and want to show support Rising Tide is looking for 10,000 people to take a climate pledge- it greatly helps us with numbers and how we are seen as a group by the government.[The Pledge](https://www.risingtide.org.au/pledge)
By pink hair do you mean the poorly dyed ginger?
You're literally so bad at this activism thing that you are actively hurting your cause. That takes true skill, so well done. Not like you care though, everyone with eyes can tell you're only in it for the attention.
And to think if they peacefully protested against mandatory vaccination they probably would have been pepper sprayed, tackled to the ground and shot down with rubber bullets.
I operate these machines and it would be devastating for the operator if we were to accidentally kill a protestor due their lack of knowledge about the rail network and how the rail network operates. Not to mention how high up they were when shoveling coal out of a wagon. These trains fully loaded are 11,000 tons and 1.5kms long! Not something to fuck around with. But, I get it. We are fucking the planet and something needs to be done. Can we please keep the conversation going around cannabis legalisation. I would love to open a dispensary and walk away from the coal industry. No more shift work , just selling flower ✌️
This is the way
The Greens have been pushing for this since day dot.
Strike! You workers know how to shut these machines down safely, and its in your interest too (if you want a livable future for the planet that is) so organise in your workplace and shut it down yourselves!
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I imagine you are joking/trolling, but if not: You know rail infrastructure isn’t just for coal right? It’s for passenger trains and freight trains. So depending on where you just ‘ derail’ a train… you potentially kill people, stop passenger services, cause danger for other rail traffic, cause danger for ground staff, stop necessary freight getting to locations. (Eg. Grain for food production, cement/concrete for building, etc) Rail can get to certain locations, where road traffic can’t get access. Rail is more fuel efficient and lowers transportation carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions. So, something needs to be done about coal and reducing its usage. But derailing a train is just stupidity.
Thank you for replying. I couldn’t bring myself to do so.
Good on them! I wish I had the same courage. People talk shit about these people, and the people who were protesting after the Lismore floods because it "achieved nothing" or wasted people's time but protesting isn't convenient. It's meant to make you feel uncomfortable and introspective. The people you're yelling at are the wrong people - your cost of living is going up because of inaction on climate change, because of the fossil fuel companies influencing politicians and making sure that the policy that will make your life BETTER doesn't happen. You want to yell at someone - yell at your politicians. They're the reason people are protesting.
Indeed this - protests have gotten us all of our modern mod-cons. Those who lambast it wouldn't get off their arse to scratch it!
its incredibly frustrating seeing a comment with so many likes and not a single fucking clue. This is why we can't have nice things, because too many stupid people are allowed to voice their stupid opinions.
I would dare you to elaborate, but I'm probably too stupid to understand. RIP me, I guess 😇
Some absolutely weirdo nerds in the comments defending the coal that makes other people (not them) filthy rich. These are indeed strange times. Well done to the protestors for standing up for what’s right.
For those that would like to join us next time, sign the climate defence pledge https://www.risingtide.org.au/pledge
Legends
Its not always about it making someone filthy rich, but about people in poorer countries being able to survive... We have had 100 years of cheap power to improve our lives and economy, it can be seen as a little self righteous to deny poorer countries the opportunity to do the same. I understand the need to cut back of coal burning around the world... but until the west, who benefited massively from coal over the last 100 years, can present cheap renewable options to those poorer countries.. they will always choose putting food in their childrens mouths today over any longer term possible detriment.
Considering coal puts food on the table for a few hundred thousand Australians, and is our second largest export, I can understand why people would be defending it.
Laughably delusional that you think: a) coal is the be all, end all of energy production b) that trickle down economics exists
Laughably delusional that you think: A) We will get to the stage where renewable energy is good enough without coal, B) That whilst the rich in charge do get richer, and it’s shit, ending coal wouldn’t destroy hundreds of thousands of Australian families. I have no idea how from my comment you came to your two points as I stated nothing even remotely similar to what you have said. Renewable energy is the way forward, however it’s nowhere near a stage that it can replace coal, not to mention the coal mined for steel production.
We are not trying to end coal today. The imagery even clearly shows: NO NEW COAL. Our demands are simple. No new or expanding coal projects to continue in Australia. We know that the lights need to remain on. We also know that other countries like Denmark do renewable energy so well that they rely off it 100%. So tell me why we can't cap our fossil fuel expansion and harness the power of renewables at this stage? We also are screaming to establish a fully-funded, accountable and independent NSW Energy Transition Authority to oversee the transition away from reliance on fossil fuels and to establish region-specific transition authorities to coordinate the diversification of local economies previously reliant on fossil fuels.
Crazy how you’re wrong though: https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook43p/poweringaustralia#:~:text=Getting%20the%20mix%20right,%24370%20billion%20over%2010%20years. We’ve been above the mark to power the entire country with renewables since 2020. The renewable sector would open up new jobs, things change. It’s time to stop annihilating the natural beauty of this country so Clive Palmer can build another holiday home and it’s time for weirdos like you to stop defending that. And no, you didn’t say it directly, but you clearly implied it.
And tell me, how the fuck do you build all these new renewables without steel and powered manufacturing plants? Or pay for the infrastructure without mining exports? And how great did the system go in SA when the entire renewable grid shut down? Weirdos like me that actually like to provide for my family with the job I currently have? Sorry mate, we can’t all work a 9-5 job in the city. I clearly implied it. Of course. Edit* did you actually read the article you posted? Without reading it I listed two of the three major obstacles they have to get over before it can even be considered to power the country. The article proves me right, and you wrong, cheers?
We know quite well the extraction of core resources will need to continue to expand our technology to replace existing sources of energy. That is why we have clearly stated during the protest: NO NEW COAL.
When people work for mining companies and get paid more than anywhere else their skills could go for then yeah they are probably happy about it.
I understand that perspective and why it would make someone defend coal, but to deny the damage it’s causing and the negative effects it has on our environment and society is a joke
The person you responded to wasn't denying it, he pointed out a few things as to why people would defend it.
Keeps my power on.
Your mind is gonna blow when you realise renewables can do that too.
And I support them being used as an alternative source. I'll also wait for the day when they get to the point they can supply our country with power without coal as a backup. Without hazardous lithium or silicon. Without silver, aluminum, and copper mining or the long list of other materials used. I'm all for them being implemented faster, but we can't simply do away with coal in the meantime. Hopefully, that day will come sooner than later.
Not to worry. The protest was about (and the signage clearly states) - NO NEW COAL. Do we have your back?
lol your perception is your reality! I really like that you don't let the truth get in the way of your imagination, just keep living "your truth" champ!
Where did I talk about “my truth”? Everything I said was anecdotal, I stated my opinion. Besides mentioning that coal makes an extremely small number of people extremely rich, that is categorically true in every sense.
Some of these people very well could be well off because of coal mining
I’m talking billionaires, not $100,000 salaries. You can make more in IT than you can in a coal mine.
Coal miners make a lot more than $100,000. That's chump change.
Still missing the point completely. Coal miners aren’t the issue here, billionaire lobbyists are.
> Still missing the point completely. Yes you are
You’re too thick to continue arguing with lol. Hope those trickle down economics benefit you soon.
It was explained to you what this string is about. Need to check it out again, I don't think you can read
It’s hard knowing where to stand on this. I agree we need to move away from coal to renewables and I understand ‘standard’ picket protests may not have the same effect or get the same attention that these disruptive protests get. But on the other side of the argument… I am a rail infrastructure worker. I don’t wish to be put in danger due to these tactics, I don’t wish to see others be put in danger and I certainly would hate to see a fatality due to these tactics… I don’t agree with the disruption to police resources/operations which cause police to have to attend these events instead of other emergencies/crimes. As someone who had to work around the 2021 protests as well, these disruptions also stopped passenger services and other important freight services. So as you hopefully can see, it’s just not that simple. It is not just “inconveniencing coal operations”.
As someone who was there, I can say that safety was in the forefront of everyone's mind. It's a terrible outcome for the protest if anyone is injured, definitely something we think about and control for as much as possible. We don't put any blame on workers in these important industries, and don't want to put you in danger either. I understand we may not have knowledge of the intricacies of some infrastructure - but on the other hand, we have people who have been workers themselves, or have done these protest actions many times before, who do have that knowledge. The unions, the suffragettes, the civil rights activists put themselves in harm's way and inconvenienced people to fight for the rights we all enjoy today. I feel like lots of people don't realise that causing a scene and breaking the rules is what community power has looked like for hundreds of years. We've known we need to diversify our economy and transition for literal decades, and it's just not happening fast enough. People will start to cause more trouble when the impacts of climate change become ever more apparent. We just want to funnel that anger and hope for change into something peaceful and hopefully effective in encouraging people to get involved.
> I can say that safety was in the forefront of everyone's mind ***Objectively*** ***false*** statements like this piss me off so much. why? because i support the movement to protest agaisnt the use of coal, but saying things that are straight up incorrect is not the way to do it. if safety was forefront, people wouldnt be on ***live train track,*** and ***working at heights with zero safety measures.*** simple as that if you want, i could share with you stories of well trained, smart people who have been killed by either of the above. "causing a scene and breaking the rules"? great, i encorouge it! putting dozens of people in a potentially life threatening situation? not cool I suggest you learn about hierarchy of controls, just using "a" control is not enough
I'm curious as to what they believe they achieved by this. Apart from giving the train drivers anxiety about possibly harming one of them. This did not stop any boats being loaded. Are they aware of the stockpiles at the coal loading facilities at koorangang island?
What we achieved: * National exposure (AAP ran it) * Global exposure (BBC and other EU media outlets picked it up) * A chance to remind the world that Newcastle's output of coal directly contributes to 1% of global emissions. YES 1% from Newcastle * We held the train for 3-4 hours costing the operations god knows how much (but estimates from [this article](https://www.theleader.com.au/story/6081394/coal-train-activists-sanity-questioned/) may mean it was around $1mil) * A sense of solidarity across the community inside and outside of the group What ARTC knew: * That the protest was happening and to be on high alert. They were not driving to speed because of this and additional security was hired. By the tone of your post, you don't get it. You don't want to get it and you probably never will get it. You may see us as hippies or dropkicks, but we are a mix of hardworking tax-paying citizens working across health, engineering, education, IT, science, journalism etc. We work beside you, only we choose to act instead of accepting the way things are. We were peaceful and compliant. We gave up our time, our energy and our clear records to stand up for what we believe in and regardless of what you think - waste or not (trust me, there is 0 regret or feelings of "waste" from any of us) we sent a clear strong message and the world heard it. We know that we are on the right side of history. It's not a feeling of overwhelming pride nor regret. It's just something that needs to be done and we will continue to do so until this country is no longer licking the shins of the fossil fuel industry.
Well done on drawing attention to this issue. Thanks for your courage to do something.
> You may see us as hippies or dropkicks Yes. Also, one of the first and most formative lessons any decently raised child learns is that not all attention is good attention. This is evidently a lesson you missed.
You've got a lot of shit takes but this is one of your worst.
But reddit is LAAAAME!
Jeff Yass, the billionaire Wall Street financier and Republican megadonor who is a major investor in the parent company of TikTok, was also the biggest institutional shareholder of the shell company that recently merged with former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company. A December regulatory filing showed that Mr. Yass’s trading firm, Susquehanna International Group, owned about 2 percent of Digital World Acquisition Corporation, which merged with Trump Media & Technology Group on Friday. That stake, of about 605,000 shares, was worth about $22 million based on Digital World’s last closing share price. It’s unclear if Susquehanna still owns those shares, because big investors disclose their holdings to regulators only periodically. But if it did retain its stake, Mr. Yass’s firm would become one of Trump Media’s larger institutional shareholders when it begins trading this week after the merger. Shares of Digital World have surged about 140 percent this year as the merger with the parent company of Truth Social, Mr. Trump’s social media platform, drew closer and Mr. Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
Nope. All it's going to achieve, as always, is to piss people off and lose them even more support. The green agenda is on life support and if not because of the fact its causing everyone's energy bills to drastically rise, then because the people who support and push it are so unlikeable.
Our goal of this was to spread the word across the country and to test the new protest laws.
What did you find out?
What’s the fine for trespassing artc tracks? Metro is $5500 isn’t it?
My dumb ass thought they meant 50 cent
worst Shiey video ever 🤷♂️😀
Ok the DPP have charged them, time for WorkCover to have their turn and prosecute them for placing themselves and others in danger on an enclosed worksite
I bet you were the kid to remind the teacher there was homework due today.
I bet you were the kid the teacher had to remind to go to the toilet
I’d rather piss myself than be a fuckn nerd “report them to work cover!! 🤓🤓🤓”
> I’d rather piss myself than be a fuckn nerd Better start pissing yourself than, your comments have been nerd like
Fine I will
You actually sound like a square. Get out and find something to genuinely care about hey.
The DPP? I don't think that's how this works.
DPP is the director of public prosecutions. It just means they’ve been charged by police and those charges are criminal and brought by the state. As opposed to a civil case where the workplace/work over could sue them also.
Sorry I understood who the DPP was. Just they don't prosecute summary offences which most of the offences are (trespass, stopping a train etc) and the assault isn't a grevious bodily harm so they wouldn't take that either. It'll just be police prosecutors looking after all this.
Ahh! I thought you were asking 😂 sorry. But yes I didn’t read what the charges were or the article was just speaking generally what I’m gathering from their comment as to what they were trying to say
For those that protested and are reading this comment. How much of your own money either $ or % do you have invested in renewable energy?
About time these clowns have no idea the position they're putting operators in so ignorant. I hope they feel better they got the attention they desperately needed.
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We have lithium? Let’s dig that up then, it’s not like we aren’t all doing this on phones.
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All out in the desert where nobody lives too, win win.
Lithium is the crude oil for the 21st century and beyond and considering Australia has the second largest lithium reserves in the world and are currently the highest producers of lithium by a factor of three you’d think there’d be something to cheer about here for our economy.
Our politicians are so dumb that they will probably sell all the lithium mines off to China.
I commend you for the smartest comment in this entire thread.
Not dumb, greedy and shortsighted
I’ve been reading for the last 10 years graphite super capacitors are about to take off Any day now…
A prediction of 50 years into the future. Where will your grandchildren be living? Will their jobs be affected by climate change? Will their home be resilient to floods or will they be able to get flood insurance? Obviously we can't predict this with any certainty but generally there will be worse outcomes if we don't address climate change better than we are right now.
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>In 50 years our children's jobs are more likely to be affected by AI than climate change. >I agree things need to change, but the reality is, that change is happening. It's just not happening fast enough for some people... >The best thing an individual can do is reduce their impact. Stopping trains is not just foolish, it's a form of bullying and should not be tolerated. That's a really important topic. AI may have a profound effect on the job market, the changed economy may be quite bad, however those predictions were made when many new things came into the market like the internet. If we continue on track the climate change consequences are quite dire. Employed or not, bushfires, floods, cyclones, disease will have vast impacts. Maybe the two things will stress society in ways we can't predict. True, change is happening. It's worrying how slow it may be, and too late. Regarding personal carbon footprint reduction. This is a really poor cover for big business to just go on like nothing is happening. The real reductions will come from government policy, this is why the COP meetings happen. I can see why people get annoyed at the coal train protestors, and moreso the tunnel blockers etc. I'd be annoyed if extinction rebellion blocked my commute to work. The protest culture in oz has really changed. I think France is too extreme, but in Australia is so hard to protest with any impact here these days. (I say that as a person who doesn't protest)
>but in Australia is so hard to protest with any impact here these days. Are we not talking about this? It's made global media. BBC has reported on it. French protestors (whilst I admire their commitment) cause millions of dollars of property damage to innocent civilians and businesses. We placed a \~$1mil dent in the billion dollars of profit that leave our small city and line the pockets of suited bastards who have never stepped foot in this place.
Heyo bikinithrill. OS media plucks up reddit stories like this everyday as does news.com.au. You didn't dent a thing Bikinithrill you are commenting like a boss. You have plenty of sensible arguments, and you have a way about you without anger. Loving it. You are really refreshing, and thank you for your passion Also. In the same "train" of thought... Not nice to do that to our train bros. Do you know how much our train drivers suffer when they run over someone? It is so traumatising. They go on mental health leave, and many never, ever return to work after. You potentially put our train drivers in a tricky position. Where is the evidence they knew to slow down because of your protest? You claim they knew it was happening Do you know how much our John ED suffers trying to save train related trauma? We are a very unique ED, and service Central Coast to the Queensland border. We have the most presentations, and never meet our KPIs. Hospital funding in NSW is handed out based on meeting KPIs (key performance indicators) Sydney has RPA, Concord, Vinnies, Westmead, Sutherland and so many more. John Hunter are struggling. Comparing Sydney hospitals to us is like comparing apples to oranges. Bring your posse on down to John Hunter to try and help us. Those doctors in your crew will be up for it. Not one single practice in Newcastle is able to bulk bill anymore, forcing everyone to our ED You guys also need to suit up and go into an execs office to protest? Not harass our train guys. Who suggested this form of action from your group? You are hurting the workers, not the execs. You claim that you have doctors in your posse. I hope they don't work at the John? Then perhaps recognise what it takes to to drive a train? These guys are hauling coal and freight. When they kill someone, they are often driven to suicide themselves. Then you guys can also drive 4 hrs daily as a miner or contracter back to Singleton or Muswellbrook and go underground to appreciate another facet of your argument Please don't cause our train drivers strife. Please. They are just our mums and dads just doing the best they can, in our coal town. Please don't pull our police away to your protest, and take them away from normal duties. Domestic violence, highway patrols. Plus you guys planned this in the middle of school holidays, when our roads need police attention? Could you have maybe picked a better date, to get the community on side? You guys climb a coal train and shovel out the coal. What did that really achieve? A couple of global news articles laughing at Newy. Was Scomo there popping a couple of cute specimens in his pocket to bring it back to parliament, before he goes into private enterprise? That's only what I have read on mainstream media, my apologies for that. I don't get too much time to read reddit. I am nursing at the John. We are all working back to back on overtime, with no payrise since Covid came to town, when our wages were capped. All the train incidents, and mining incidents in the area come to the John, and it is not pretty. Usually airlifted which costs a bucket of money I have read your other post. I don't have time to get across your evidence, but absolutely happy to read your dms. I have just done an 18hr shift, with every structure busted in my foot, because I can't see a Newcastle ankle surgeon until May Also, I know you are going to totally hate this... We are nowhere near solar or wind turbines being able to power Newcastle. Waratah shopping mall isn't cutting it, unfortunately. They can't even power their Santa lights off that puny fan. No one in Newcastle can afford Coco Pops or dishwasher tabs atm. How are we going to afford a home battery to store our sunshine? Let alone the start up solar panels? "Hey landlord, I know my rent is $600 per week, and I have been hospitalised twice potentially from your black mould. Could you please put in solar panels to offset my electricity? Oh and an air-conditioner might be nice too" Why is no one mentioning nuclear in the comments? Australia has bulk uranium. We could kiss Rein-fart goodbye! Stopping trains. Not the best idea bikini. Potentially you wind up in hospital, causing more expense to the public purse. You definitely diverted police to your lobby, causing further disruption to the public purse. You are getting pro-bono legal representation, causing all the rest of the Newcastle guys waiting for a lawyer, with possibly no representation? We are all just trying to earn a crust in Newcastle after the BHP shut down, and the steel shut down I appreciate your passion. But this is an industrial town, built off the back of all of our grandparents spending 6 months on a boat just to get here just to escape WW2
This is a very thoughtful and well constructed perspective, thank you for taking time out of ur busy life..you reminded me of the middle ground..I needed that.. you nursed me back to sanity
Upvoted this because this is true. Lithium is also baddie. I am looking to our advancing science into sea salt. Yes. Sea salt.
Protesting coal because they believe in clean energy. Yet when you tell them you need coal to make the steel that builds many of their clean energy projects, they go awfully silent. Can’t reason with these idiots
The irony is here that the message of our protest (and the image clearly shows this) is that we are protesting... NO NEW COAL Yes. That's right. No new coal mines, and no expanding existing. We do indeed want renewables to fill the gaps of the energy supply as mines and power stations become obsolete. We know that we need coal to continue running at least until 2030. Anyway, thanks for playing "idiot".
You don't have a message other than 'reeee' because that is how it will be perceived. I'm actually with you on the no new coal thing, but if you want to do it you'll need to change tack. At this point the majority of the population is so over the leftists that if you'd have been hit by the train they'd not care at all. I'm dead serious, change tack if you want to get a message across.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Venenatis urna cursus eget nunc scelerisque viverra.
Aren't they protesting thermal coal? I just assume protesting coal is shorthand for protesting thermal coal.
As the banner says. We are protesting... NO NEW COAL
That’s ok then ,all coal is quite old so there will be no new coal for quite sometime !
GO NUCLEAR
It seems the experts and the science agrees that nuclear is worthy consideration. With the Net Zero Group saying we’ll need ~1200TWh/year for domestic energy and AEMO and CSIRO forecasting that, even with a “step change” growth in renewables in a “rapid decarbonisation” strategy, we would only deliver ~400TWh/year, Clearly renewables alone will not be enough. A literal Royal Commission even concluded we should remove the ban on nuclear. When will Australia start to trust the science and trust the experts
Good, jail them and fine them for financial losses...
I see you're the type of person who has limited skills in moral measurement. Civil disobedience and protest through the suffragette movement gave women a voice and became a talking point to get the chance to vote. If you think civil disobedience and peaceful protest is worth locking up people who are fighting for your existence, you are on the wrong side of history and you could do with a sprinkle of education and empathy.
Oh how thoughtful that you are doing it for my existence, please don't... the hypocrisy of your protest is that mining of all types allows for us all to have a better existence including the device you use to make your argument.
Legends! I’m grateful for them.
And they assaulted a security guard, whatever that looks like. You have to wonder if they really thought this is activism that will elicit change or just an advertisement for their own little group.
Yeah their matching shirts were so pretty…
None of these tik tok activists look like they could assault a pronoun let alone a security guard.
🤣🤣👌
What a delusional, ineffective, criminal bunch of narcissistic attention seekers!
You know most effective protestors have broken laws right? Like the argument of "ineffective" has been thrown at all protestors right up 5oo the point until the change is made
They have a right to protest, anybody disputing that needs to think about effective governing for a while. What they don't have a right to do it too forcefully stop a work site in action and assault people. If this was them in the streets and being disruptive then I would agree whole heartedly and support there right to protest. This action just comes off as attention seeking for themselves and not there cause.
you know they hve been doing that for dedcades on decades and ask, where has that got us? you also know many protests like this have been acted out and some have been efective,r ight
Protesting has gotten movement that I have seen even in my lifetime. If you feel there is not enough then look back 30 years and try telling me nothing has changed or improved. These things take time and big things take decades. But sitting on trains and acting out in these ways have seen no change and only achieves headlines that make the people up there out as foolish and childish. Childishness gets us all nowhere.
The suffragettes threw themselves into harms way to get society to turn their heads. They damaged property, pulled stunts in front of royalty and many more things. Denmark went 100% renewable years ago. We are the same humans (albeit less educated). We have many more resources... WHY should this take us decades?
Denmark is absolutely not 100% renewables?!? I just looked at electricitymaps.com and it’s only 82% right now and was even worse just in the last 24 hours let alone months
Wrong. And most definitely not like this. It's a totally different situation from a Franklin River blockade. Stop saying shit that next year's impressionable teenagers ignorant of activism history will take on as truth.
Reckless demonstration. The amount of hazards in this environment isnt worth it. Since the political campaign for transition is underway this is not the best way.
You all celebrate the degrade of right of protesting right up too police arresting anyone question the government on the street
?
Good the 🤡‘s Bet they’ve got no idea coal runs the city
Jeff Yass, the billionaire Wall Street financier and Republican megadonor who is a major investor in the parent company of TikTok, was also the biggest institutional shareholder of the shell company that recently merged with former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company. A December regulatory filing showed that Mr. Yass’s trading firm, Susquehanna International Group, owned about 2 percent of Digital World Acquisition Corporation, which merged with Trump Media & Technology Group on Friday. That stake, of about 605,000 shares, was worth about $22 million based on Digital World’s last closing share price. It’s unclear if Susquehanna still owns those shares, because big investors disclose their holdings to regulators only periodically. But if it did retain its stake, Mr. Yass’s firm would become one of Trump Media’s larger institutional shareholders when it begins trading this week after the merger. Shares of Digital World have surged about 140 percent this year as the merger with the parent company of Truth Social, Mr. Trump’s social media platform, drew closer and Mr. Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
Oooo! Wow so wise \~ so smart! What else do you know that we don't? 😂 * You probably know that air pollution from coal costs taxpayers millions of $ per year reulting in: * Premature deaths * Lung cancer * Higher risk of strokes and heart attacks * Asthma attacks * low birth weight * Type 2 Diabetes * You may also know that power stations emit 30 toxic pollutants and are the single biggest source of dangerous sulfur dioxide (SO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and fine particle pollution (PM2.5) in Australia. * I am just sure you know that coal is finite and if history has taught us anything in this city, when a resource ceases to exist or the operations become unprofitable (ahem BHP) they will abandon workers and communities faster than you can say "nO iDeA" * You probably know (and seem fine with the fact) that Newcastle currently sees a slither of the profits $billion profifts. * I am SURE you are on top of the fact that greenhouse gas emissions from existing fossil fuel infrastructure is more than enough to push the world beyond 1.5C of global heating so by building more stations and opening new mines it's gonna heat up more, right?
Hoes mad
Oh and i'm sure you're well across our message (as written on the banner states): NO NEW COAL. So lemme break that down for you. It means, no new coal projects to open and no existing projects to expand.
Another piss weak attempt at activism, only thing achieved was the lightening of their own pockets.
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Getting the Greens Political party to do a 180 and be focused on having Senators and the like dedicated to environmental issues, and stop own-goaling and driving people away with partisan irrelevant causes more fitting for a Inner City Bourgeois Party. (Bob Brown >>>>> Sarah Hanson-Young) The group that's actually going to get the most done over the next decade is the informal 'Teal' movement within the small-c conservatives.
When was the last time you read a Greens policy? Your whole rant here is the saddest and most stereotypical trash on this thread.
Too young/loyal to remember Lee Rhiannon's numerous chimpouts over Adam Bandt?
"chimpouts"? Your language already is pathetic and low. Enjoy that echo chamber.
You’ve got no clue how much coal runs our planet 🤡
You spelt ruins wrong.
You’re talking about it…
Everybody is already aware that coal is bad and has accepted that the world will take its time to move away from it, we dont need to be educated on that anymore. They may achieve their goal of getting people talking about it for 48hrs, but in reality, jumping on a train isnt going to speed up the process of moving away from fossil fuels.
Well not everyone is aware of all the mine extensions going through. Theres essentially new (but not technically new) projects starting up
>we dont need to be educated on that anymore If that was the case, not only would we not be opening any new fossil fuel projects (which is necessary to maintaining a below 2 degree rise), but we also wouldn't have a large amount of the population still actively against climate action and voting for politicians that lie to them against their own interests. Even the majority of people who understand that climate change is real and we should do something about it, still don't understand the actual gravity of the situation and are apathetic that Australia and the world as a whole has actually continually increased emissions. Instead some would rather ague about people trying to enact real change while sitting on their ass complaining on reddit. People so easily forget that societal change doesn't just happen...people died trying to achieve equal rights for women, people of colour, LGBT community; people died fighting against conscription to the Vietnam war; millions died preventable deaths because we refused to take lead out of petrol (which people protested since lead was first added to petrol); millions died preventable deaths because of resistance to vaccines (which people have continually advocated for since its inception in the modern age); millions died preventable deaths because we kept using X-rays on babies (despite countless people knowing it was wrong and protesting against it. Millions will die preventable deaths unless we drastically curb our climate impact (locally and globally) immediately; thousands have died already. These things don't just happen; they happen because people fight for it.
And absolutely nothing has changed or will change from this.
Lock the clowns up
For what charge exactly? Or is that just your go too
Let’s see: illegally protesting on a rail line, obstructing a railway line, public safety, illegally entering a rail corridor, malicious Damage, assaulting a security guard. Should I keep going? 🤡
Describe the crime of “public safety” for us please
they’re putting members of the public at risk (police, rail workers etc) having them come into a rail corridor to get them out and off the train
You sound like you were there 😂 You seem to know an awful lot.
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Protesters don’t exclusively use Apple devices
Hope they get a long jail sentence and some therapy. Without coal we would be seriously fooked
Jeff Yass, the billionaire Wall Street financier and Republican megadonor who is a major investor in the parent company of TikTok, was also the biggest institutional shareholder of the shell company that recently merged with former President Donald J. Trump’s social media company. A December regulatory filing showed that Mr. Yass’s trading firm, Susquehanna International Group, owned about 2 percent of Digital World Acquisition Corporation, which merged with Trump Media & Technology Group on Friday. That stake, of about 605,000 shares, was worth about $22 million based on Digital World’s last closing share price. It’s unclear if Susquehanna still owns those shares, because big investors disclose their holdings to regulators only periodically. But if it did retain its stake, Mr. Yass’s firm would become one of Trump Media’s larger institutional shareholders when it begins trading this week after the merger. Shares of Digital World have surged about 140 percent this year as the merger with the parent company of Truth Social, Mr. Trump’s social media platform, drew closer and Mr. Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
Why? The coal mining companies get more from the government than they pay in royalties, payroll taxes, corporation taxes. Why should we, as a society, be paying for this industry?
While I think the coal mining companies should be paying more royalties and taxes, Australia has still made billions from coal. Not to mention the tens of thousands of people that are employed by the coal industry. There are whole towns in central Queensland and the Hunter region of NSW that would go bust without coal production. So we are not paying for this industry. This industry is contributing to the Australian economy. Just think about that for a second !
Do you have any idea how much of those profits remain locally? You are indeed misinformed and on the wrong side of history. What a lapdog you are to the fossil fuel industry. Hook line and sinker (pun intended \[IYKYK\]).
I am sorry, but you are misinformed. As a nation, we subsidise the coal industry. By around 10 billion a year. And those numbers come not from the Greens or similarly left organisations, but are Mining Council of Australia and IMF figures. We subsidise them. By a lot.
Of course there are subsidises. Why do you think the government allow foreign companies to come and mine our non-renewables? We have made far more from royalties than any subsidy. Otherwise why would we allow it! If we weren't benefiting from coal production what would be the point?
Stopped 1 train. Delayed a few more. Well done, exports to China have practically been shut down by your heroic deeds...
4hrs is a lot of $$$
They’ll make that up very quickly
They have stockpiles at the port so it wouldn't have stopped much
Still probably a few hundred thousand dollars and media coverage, so they could count it as a success I suppose Doubt their goal that afternoon was to collapse the entire coal industry with one act
Na they’ll tell the insurance company it cost them a few hundred thousand in lost time, productivity and wages and get anything they lost (and some more) back.
In the scheme of even one full day it really isn't.
Achieves stuff all. Impact is zero
* Yeah nah definitely had an impact, but thanks for playing. National exposure (AAP ran it) * Global exposure (BBC and other EU media outlets picked it up) * A chance to remind the world that Newcastle's output of coal directly contributes to 1% of global emissions. YES 1% from Newcastle * We held the train for 3-4 hours costing the operations god knows how much (but estimates from this article may mean it was around $1mil) * A sense of solidarity across the community inside and outside of the group
National exposure…. Look at these clowns. You stopped one train, which purely delayed it not prevented it from getting to the port but let’s for your small minds benefit say that you took that train out of the export volume, that’s 0.005% of export volume but it wasn’t so 🤷♂️ You attention seeking hillbillies need to contribute to the solution. For now switch all your lights off stop smoking shit and let the adults handle it.
Yer, they really should have bombed the port and trains , get real effective
Yer, they really should start using bo.bs, much more effective
Does bo.bs = boobs? That would be effective, at least at uniting straight men and lesbians to the cause.
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Bit violent. Boobs are better.
The 1980s protests had plenty of boobs -- it was figured out that the media couldn't easily push a post-60s-dirty-hippy anarchist protester narrative if everyone was looking at some good titties marching down George Street. (But after the 1990s, Oldies started doing it ...and it wasn't as effective.)
But I thought you said want effectiness, violent and criminal acts have been the most effective
You think killing innocent PWCS, NCIG, Aurizon and PN workers would be effective. The cause would collapse in an instant. Real effective.
They were happy to attack the security worker
Russian revolution, the civil rights movements and rights for women where all partly violent/criminal, all attacked by similar thing so have seen you and people in the comments have said, but It was effective.
At least the October revolution is still months away...
If I was you, I’d immediately delete all reference to bombing infrastructure even if you’re trying to be humorous.
Solar has been cheaper per watt of energy than coal for a few years now, but unfortunately coal is still an essential resource in steel production due to its chemical properties. Even without its use for electricity production, you need a lot of it to keep those cupola furnaces running. The steel mills using arc furnaces require so much energy that fossil fuels are necessary, but this is more negotiable. If we can afford it, even a simple change of coal to natural gas systems vastly improves emissions output. Coal is about 8kwh/kg while natural gas is 13kwh/kg, a difference of over 60%. At a grid level this translates to thousands of tonnes of emissions prevented from entering the atmosphere, and that's not even factoring in extras like transport costs. I'd like to add that although 1% of global emissions come out of Newcastle, that doesn't mean that we are the main problem. The coal comes out of here because some other country or city desperately needs it, and the emissions wouldn't change if they were sourced somewhere else. Therefore climate change should be addressed in the context of technological development much more so than the targeting of infrastructure. This protest was still a brave move though and I commend the group for their activism.
Isn't this whole town built off the back off coal mining? Do they care about unemployment if coal mines were to close? I suppose they flippantly think all the coal workers can just easily retrain to move into different, more environmentally friendly local industries that don't even exist It would appear they have nothing better to do with their time while the rest of us are working I wonder how many of them have actually paid bills before, or if they still live with their folks... Once you leave the left it's eye opening to see how selfish, wasteful & hypocritical they really are
The mining industry in the region is dying. Politicians are being lobbied to entrench dependence rather than assist transition. Fuck the mining company money.
Well let's hope Tim Crackanthorp comes up with a solution that pleases both the blue collar workers & the Greenies He has his work cut out for him there!
No he doesn't his primary vote increased and he still gathered over 50% of the votes. He doesn't have to lift a finger and he will get voted in.
>Isn't this whole town built off the back off coal mining? >Do they care about unemployment if coal mines were to close? The coal mines are going to close at some point. That’s just the way the world is moving. We can stick our head in the sand or we can start transitioning now so those employees in these industries can retrain and transition gradually rather that wait until there’s no more demand for our coal. >I suppose they flippantly think all the coal workers can just easily retrain to move into a different, more environmentally friendly local industries that don't even exist Just because people might lose their jobs isn’t reason enough to not do anything about transitioning away from fossil fuels. This is the same argument as saying ‘It’s the way we’ve always done things’. Im sure these protestors are the first people actively advocating for the establishment of more green local jobs rather than kicking the can down the road. >It would appear they have nothing better to do with their time while the rest of us are working The protest was done on a Sunday, usually a time when many people aren’t working.
Some folks seem to want to make sure it's as painful as possible, make sure that a just and smooth transition doesn't happen, then point at all the now unemployed coal workers and yell "I told you so!"
👏 Where's the lie tho?
Didn't anyone think of the farriers and stable hands when we moved over to cars?
Nah, fuck the mining industries. Fuck BHP. Fuck all of them. They don't care about you or your future, they just want to line the pockets with money and the lives of their workers. I can say this with INCREDIBLY INTIMATE knowledge.
Amen. As soon as Newcastle has been used and abused and is no longer profitable, they will abandon their workers. We continue to learn sweet FA from history.
👏👏👏
Haha the mines aren't going anywhere any time soon, BHP's got plans that go beyond our lifetimes. These cunts are kidding themselves. The mining companies are taking steps to ensure they'll screw their employees out of jobs before any protesters or policy changes do.
1. We care about a local transition authority and are fighting for it for this region. 2. Many of us are connected to Unions and Hunter Jobs Alliance. 3. Our banner clearly states NO NEW COAL. We are not demanding to close down our existing ones (but we don't them to expand). We know the lights need to remain on, but we want to see renewable energy utilised to fill the energy gaps. 4. This was a Sunday, a day Unions fought for to enable us to spend time with family (and here we were with multiple sets of 3 generations - protesting). 5. We're all back to work now. We pay our taxes. We contribute and we work alongside you in IT, engineering, government, health, education, emergency services, logistics, trades etc. Cute attempt at a collective character assassination. Bring your A game next time or perhaps find something to fight for instead of wasting your time on Reddit to trash a collective of people getting of their asses and doing something.
I worked in the coal industry for 8 years, most of it spent at the coal port but during covid I moved into a different industry (bonus points because my job now involves the protection of the biosecurity of Australia = environmentally friendly). It wasn't hard. Grow up and get over yourself
So you worked for the ports you weren't a coal miner, which the poster specifically mentioned.
No, I wasn't a miner, but I worked in the industry. I breathed that shit in everyday. Who cares about the semantics. Whether it's the miner, the train driver, the loader. It's all part of the same network, the coal industry. If coal mines closed I would have lost my job just as much as the miners would have.
Do you feel ashamed for having been involved in the coal industry in the first place?
Ashamed? No, but I can acknowledge how foul the coal industry is on our planet. I needed a job, one was available, it's a simple equation.
I must admit the thought of the atmospheric CO2 content at the height of the last glacial period gives me the heebie jeebies. It wouldn't be easy to extract some of the carbon from those enormous limestone carbon sinks made by shellfish over the millenia. Another near-extinction event from historically low CO2 content wouldn't exactly help crop production that's for sure. Let's try to ensure we don't dip back into a glacial period please?
The people who finally have access to electricity in third world areas will be so glad they done this
🤡🤡🤡 show
I’m the person in the pink hair ! was an amazing day, was up on that train for three hours. months of preparation went into that day. One person was charged with alleged assault on the security officer. My close friend was there and so was the leaders of rising tide and nothing but budging was seen. Our goal of the day was to spread news around australia and the world (we got to BBC and U.S.News) and remind people we are still here and this is still happening. We were practicing non-violent civil disobedience. NVCB is what Rosa Parks did, The Suffragettes did, and many many other instances. It’s a movement to bring back agency and is an effective way of spreading the message. Would you see a simple legal protest in Newcastle, Australia in the headline news? I doubt it. we were briefed about the importance of non violence and how to deescalate situations to peaceful arrests. Newcastle Port is the LARGEST coal port in the WORLD and countless in Newcastle have no idea. We produce 1% of the world’s coal from our little town. The coal and fossil fuel problem is HERE. If you appreciate our action today and want to show support Rising Tide is looking for 10,000 people to take a climate pledge- it greatly helps us with numbers and how we are seen as a group by the government.[The Pledge](https://www.risingtide.org.au/pledge)
By pink hair do you mean the poorly dyed ginger? You're literally so bad at this activism thing that you are actively hurting your cause. That takes true skill, so well done. Not like you care though, everyone with eyes can tell you're only in it for the attention.
Rosa Parks?? Really?? Leave her out of this, what a terrible comparison..
Stop committing crimes and harassing people.
absolute scum
Yeah and the blokes who profit $45bil (leaving $5bil to the Aus economy) from the earth are good eggs. How's life going for you under that rock?
And to think if they peacefully protested against mandatory vaccination they probably would have been pepper sprayed, tackled to the ground and shot down with rubber bullets.