Protestor Climbs Nine Metre Pole At Port Botany Today To Protest Climate Change

A climate activist has blockaded a traffic route into Port Botany by suspending himself above a nine-metre pole, in a move protesters say is aimed at disrupting “Australia’s system of exploitation and extraction”. 

Activists from Blockade Australia were discovered at Port Botany around 6:30am this morning after one protester constructed a complex tensegrity structure – a floating bamboo platform held together with the tension of ropes – aimed at stopping trucks from leaving or entering Port Botany, while another assembled and scaled a nine-metre pole. 

The protester above the pole live-streamed the ensuing demonstration on the group’s Facebook page, saying that “(Port Botany) was the first point of invasion, and the start of the exploitation of this continent.”

According to the ABC, Police managed to remove one of the protesters at around 8am today who was then questioned at Maroubra Police Station. 

The group say that the demonstration was due to what they cited as “ecosystem and social collapse” in Australia.

“Australia’s system of exploitation and extraction is driving climate collapse. Blockade Australia is taking action at the Port of Botany and shutting it down because of its importance to this destructive system,” Blockade Australia said on their Facebook page.

“Targeted disruption against bottlenecks in the Australian system is the kind of resistance that is needed to salvage a livable future. Campaigning methods such as petitions, rallies and lobbying have not worked.”

Blockade Australia has previously made headlines after a protestor was sentenced to a year in jail after stopping a freight train in the Hunter Region. The group are planning another public demonstration in June 

Elsewhere, this week scientists recorded an “unprecedented” heatwave in Antarctica, with temperatures rising to 40 degrees Celsius higher than normal levels.