A PEACEFUL protest at Willow Tree on Sunday halted Whitehaven Coal's trains from reaching Newcastle Port.
Trains were stopped for five hours after 33-year-old Jamie Dunnit scaled, and occupied, the locomotives pulling the wagons laden with coal from Whitehaven's coal mine.
This community action occurs in the midst of a government crackdown on people who try to defend themselves from the impact of fossil fuel industries through peaceful protest.
Mr Dunnit, who works in bush regeneration, said the anti-protest laws were a last ditch attempt from a dying industry to save itself.
“We are showing them that we will not be deterred from protesting, we will not be silenced,” he said.
The Queensland man was eventually arrested and granted conditional bail to appear before Scone Local Court on Thursday, March 24.
Former mining worker and Front Line Action On Coal spokesperson Jason McLean said the action of civil disobedience would not stop until the government put the well-being of its citizens ahead of big business.
“We call upon the NSW State Government to help communities transition to sustainable economies as the mining boom ends and the world moves towards ensuring a safe climate future,” he said.
“Mike Baird’s condemnation will not stop us from standing up against dodgy companies like Whitehaven.
“We will stand up to them from the Pit to the Port.”
Over 400 people have been arrested standing up for culture, community, ecology, land and water over the past four years in protest against the destruction of the Leard State Forest by Whitehaven Coal's Maules Creek mine.
