Blockade Australia Can See The Irony As NSW Declares Flood Emergency
"You can't crack down on floods or fire"
New South Wales has officially declared an emergency after the state was hit with a deluge that exceeded London’s entire annual rainfall in three days.
As trains and buses were cancelled late Monday night due to the intense rainfall and thousands were evacuated from their homes across Greater Sydney, the Climate Council has officially attributed the fourth major flooding event this year to the worsening effects of climate change.
Premier Dominic Perrottet quickly took to Twitter to show his support to those experiencing the life-threatening disaster across the state.
It’s hard to put into words what some communities across NSW are going through, again.
We’re seeing distressing scenes from the flood zones across our state.
Times like these are difficult. It will test our resilience.
— Dom Perrottet (@Dom_Perrottet) July 3, 2022
However, the government’s reaction to the latest climate disaster has surprised members of Blockade Australia, who experienced a terrifying show of force from the state after commencing a week of disruption just days ago.
Protesters peacefully protesting throughout Sydney’s CBD last week were met with the full strength of New South Wales’ police force, as plainclothes officers and helicopters pursued members of Blockade Australia throughout the city.
Over one hundred police officers raided a campsite in Colo where members of the movement were meeting after a “sharp-eyed hippie” spotted intelligence officers spying on the group, intending to collect evidence to charge protesters before their planned week of protest.
Ten members were charged with various offences while two members of the group remain in police custody. After being denied bail by a magistrate they’ll be forced to remain inside until a court hearing on the 12th of July.
News media was also heavily critical of Blockade Australia’s tactics of peaceful disruption last week, which saw activists creatively blocking main transportation and industrial arteries they see as being conducive to climate change.
After Blockade Australia protester Mali Cooper blocked the North Sydney tunnel by locking herself in her car, she was criticised on The Project for assuming the “privilege” of whether people could arrive at work on time. After being arrested for her initial stunt, Cooper was arrested a second time for breaching her bail conditions after police tracked her and another group of protesters in a national reserve in Earlwood. Officers had calculated that she couldn’t possibly make her way to Lismore (the location set in Cooper’s bail conditions) in time.
Hayden, an activist with Blockade Australia told Junkee that “irony” is the right word to express the juxtaposition between the police response last week and the flood emergency today.
“Seeing how hard they’ve cracked down on minor disruption as a result of civil disobedience, we’ve also seen the reality that you can’t crack down on floods or fire,” Hayden told Junkee.
In Sydney overnight, a natural disaster caused more disruption in Greater Sydney than the efforts of Blockade Australia’s entire planned rally — one they decided to cut short after experiencing the “terrifying” might of NSW’s police force.
“Given the response and how utterly violent the response was we had to change course, at least at that moment,” Hayden said of the decision to cancel last Friday’s demonstration.
“The show of force was intended to provoke intimidation, and it certainly did. This level of state oppression has hardly been seen on this continent in recent decades.”
Hayden says that while the opposition from police “wasn’t surprising”, his fellow members of Blockade Australia were shocked by the oppressive terms of bail conditions, which dictated that some members had to have no contact with “dozens of their friends”, avoid encrypted messaging applications, and in some cases immediately leave Sydney.
“Police are just using anything they can to just completely immobilise protesters,” Hayden told Junkee.
“Punishment should occur in the courts, but what we’re seeing now is police are acting as their own judge, jury, and executioner, they’re abusing the bail act to completely immobilise people while being as punitive as possible.”
While the last few weeks have been difficult for Blockade Australia, Hayden sees the inflamed reaction from police as proof that the movement is working to convince citizens of the urgency around action on climate change.
“Why else would they be cracking down on peaceful protests unless there’s a recognition within the institutions of Australia that this sort of response is actually presenting a real challenge?” Hayden ponders.
Vowing that police measures won’t deter Blockade Australia going forward, Hayden says that the price of protest is worth it considering the stakes.
“Despite how difficult it is to persevere, to not persevere would be far more difficult.”