Last night, the NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) Annual General Meeting passed a resolution calling on the NSW Police to withdraw the anti-protest charges against the remaining 130 people arrested in Newcastle who were protesting the world’s largest coal port.  

Comments attributable to Timothy Roberts, President NSWCCL 

“We call on NSW Police to drop the anti-protest charges against the remaining Rising Tide arrestees. These laws are a weapon of repression of political speech and they must not be pursued further. 

“The right to protest is fundamental in a democracy and this government’s efforts to stop protests and criminalise and demonise protestors at all costs should be of deep concern to all.

“These laws should never have been passed at all. Bad laws are leading to bad outcomes in courts and a huge waste of resources to the public. 

“It should not be a crime to engage in non-violent direct action. Instead of listening to thousands of attendees at Rising Tide, the NSW Government has continued to pass more laws criminalising protest.  

“Our community is not any safer because of the huge resources allocated to demonise and criminalise protesters. Rather the opposite is true. The government does not make us safer when it  postures itself against our democratic rights. 

“It has now been proven in court that the NSW Police cannot substantiate the claims they have made against those charged at Rising Tide, there is absolutely no community benefit in prosecutors continuing with the charges against the other 130 people.