Blockade Australia protester charged after blocking coal line at Kooragang, Newcastle

Blockade Australia protester Raffi, was suspended in the air, blocking a main coal freight line in Newcastle on Monday morning, June 19.

The climate activist positioned herself with a 'bipod' and ropes to swing over the rail line on Wagtail Way.

A Port of Newcastle spokesman said shipping operations were unaffected by the action.

Emergency services were called to the scene about 7.15am.

Officers from the Newcastle City Police District and Police Rescue were able to remove the young woman, who was in the air hundreds of metres above them, safely from the structure. She was arrested about 10.40am.

She was taken to Waratah police station and charged with cause obstruction to railway locomotive and enter inclosed lands give rise to serious risk to safety.

She was refused bail and will face Newcastle Local Court on June 20.

Blockade Australia livestreamed the protest on social media where Raffi said: "We need rapid, large-scale immediate changes."

"We need to put everything we have into this right now, it's a global crisis.

"We have the science, we have the technology, we have enough to meet everyone's basic needs, we have the compassion.

"There is also hope if we sit with the scariness, acknowledge it and take action."

She said people had the power to "disrupt and transform the colonial project known as Australia".

"Everyday people are feeling disenfranchised and disempowered. We're breaking that down by building a resistance movement that disrupts pinch-points in this destructive machine."

Coordinated protests were mounted at ports in Melbourne and Brisbane, to disrupt coal shipments and road traffic.

In Melbourne a 50-year-old man dangled several hundred metres above the ground for hours at Appleton Road on Coode Island, while a 23-year-old woman caused major disruption at the Port of Brisbane Motorway at Lytton, perched on top of a bamboo pole.

The trio were each arrested and the Queensland woman was charged.

Queensland Police said the Mount Gravatt East woman was charged with unregulated high-risk activities, trespass, committing public nuisance, as well as several other charges relating to blocking traffic in the area. She will face court next month.

Blockade Australia's Zelda Grimshaw said the protests were in response to Australia's facilitation of the climate and ecological crisis.

"We're determined to stop Australia exporting climate disaster. We're determined to return our ecosystems to a state of health," she said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said while people had the right to demonstrate, protests in precarious sites put emergency service personnel at risk.

"Emergency service workers, particularly the police, are put in extreme danger as a result of having to go and remove people from dangerous situations.

"It's one of the reasons we supported the previous government's protest laws which are going to remain in place," he told Sydney radio 2GB.

Amendments to the Crimes Act passed by the NSW parliament last year, impose jail terms of up to two years, and fines of $22,000, for protesters who cause damage or disruption to major roads or major public facilities.

Ms Grimshaw said protesters were aware of the potential penalties.

IN THE NEWS:

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Join the discussion in the comment section below.

Find out how to register or become a subscriber here.