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Man chains himself to rail line in protest against coal mine

Coal protestAn environmental activist has chained himself to a rail line used by coal trains outside the Port of Newcastle as part of multiple protests being staged today around New South Wales against Whitehaven’s Maules Creek coal mine.

Activist group ‘Front Line Action on Coal’ is the organisation behind the protests, currently numbered at six.

The group claims they are, “calling on the NSW government to put an immediate stop to work at the mine and audit the approval process that allowed this controversial project to proceed.”

Other protests the group have activated this morning include:

  • Maules Creek coal mine: Four people have locked themselves to access points. Police are in the process of cutting the protesters free, and arresting them before taking them to Narrabri Police Station.
  • Werris Creek coal mine: Two people have scaled the coal loader and have dropped a banner saying “Coal: Done and Dusted”
  • Tarrawonga coal mine: An activist climbed a tripod structure to block access with three more chained across the road. All four activists have now been arrested, removed, and taken to Narrabri Police Station.
  • Rocglen Mine: Two people  chained themselves to the access gate. They have now been arrested, removed, and taken to Narrabri Police Station.
  • Gunnedah CHPP: Two people have chained themselves to the access gate

Greens NSW senator Lee Rhiannon congratulated those protesters, “who have shut down all four of Whitehaven’s open cut coal mines on the Liverpool Plains”.

“The 150 people involved in this direct action are the voice of a community that is fed up with the damage the coal industry is causing,” Ms Rhiannon said.

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