Australia arrests port protesters

AUSTRALIAN police said yesterday they had arrested dozens of people during climate protests that claim to have halted two cargo ships at one of the world’s biggest coal export ports.

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A total 32 people were arrested and charged with “marine-related” offences at the weekend at the Port of Newcastle, a major deepwater gateway north of Sydney, police said.

Several activists engaged in “unsafe practices” on the water during the protests, New South Wales state police said, warning that they had a “zero-tolerance” approach to threats to public safety or the safe passage of vessels.

Organisers Rising Tide said the weekend protests, in which flotillas of kayaks entered shipping channels, had forced two coal ships to turn around instead of entering the port.

Nearly 100 people in 50 kayaks entered the shipping channel again yesterday, it said.