{"id":41505,"date":"2026-11-11T18:03:06","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T07:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=41505"},"modified":"2026-11-11T18:03:06","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T07:03:06","slug":"the-right-to-protest-is-central-to-our-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/11\/11\/the-right-to-protest-is-central-to-our-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"The right to protest is central to our democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Australian Conservation Foundation has taken to the stand of the Supreme Court of NSW today to support Rising Tide as NSW Police attempts to stop the Newcastle group\u2019s Paddle for the Planet<\/a>, which is scheduled for this Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last night Newcastle Council<\/a> declared it would no longer licence or authorise the use of council land for Rising Tide protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThroughout history people have used public protest to change the world for the better,\u201d said ACF spokesperson Jolene George.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProtesting \u2013 on the streets and on the water of Australia\u2019s biggest coal port \u2013 is one way democracies progress when powerful interests and governments are not listening to the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe right to public protest is vitally important to a healthy democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProtest shines a light on double standards and hypocrisy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile Australia\u2019s Energy Minister and Prime Minister are talking up Australia\u2019s climate credentials at the UN climate conference in T\u00fcrkiye, our country remains one of the biggest exporters of coal and gas \u2013 fuelling climate breakdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s worth remembering the disruption caused by protests is pretty insignificant compared with the disruption climate damage is imposing on Australians\u2019 lives through unseasonal bushfires, devastating droughts, more extreme storms and worsening flash floods, that harm predominantly the elderly and other vulnerable people in our society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are many ways to make positive change. Change happens on the streets, on the harbour, in the courts, in polling booths, newsrooms, boardrooms and community halls. It happens in workplaces, gardens and in conversations with friends. Different people and groups have different roles in creating a better future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cACF will do everything it can within the law to stop climate damage and extinction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACF\u2019s relationship with Rising Tide goes back a long way. In 2010 ACF gave the Peter Rawlison Award<\/a>, a prize for grassroots environmental action, to Rising Tide for \u2018tirelessly and fearlessly drawing attention to the looming climate crisis.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Australian Conservation Foundation has taken to the stand of the Supreme Court of NSW today to support Rising Tide as NSW Police attempts to stop the Newcastle group\u2019s Paddle for the Planet, which is scheduled for this Saturday. Last night Newcastle Council declared it would no longer licence or authorise the use of council land for Rising Tide protests. … Continue reading “The right to protest is central to our democracy”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41505"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41506,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41505\/revisions\/41506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}