NSW Government Locks Down Newcastle Harbour for Rising Tide’s Coal Blockade

newy.com.au – Transport for NSW has declared a marine exclusion zone across much of Newcastle Harbour from 7am Friday 28 November to 7am Monday 1 December 2025, coinciding with climate group Rising Tide’s 2025 People’s Blockade protest at the coal port.

The move renews tensions over how authorities manage large-scale climate protests on the water, coming a year after a broader exclusion zone was thrown out by the NSW Supreme Court, while organisers prepare for what they describe as their biggest blockade yet.

According to a marine notice published in the NSW Government Gazette, the exclusion zone covers Newcastle Harbour downstream of Tourle Street Bridge, Dyke Point and an imaginary line between the Park Fuels terminal on Kooragang Island and Stockton North Boat Ramp, extending offshore. The notice says the zone is being created “for the safety of users of the waterway” and will be patrolled by police and maritime vessels.

No unauthorised vessels or people, other than commercial vessels approved by the harbour master or Port Authority of NSW, are allowed inside the zone and breaches may attract a maximum $1,100 penalty under section 18B of the Marine Safety Act 1998. Transit lanes will allow limited passage through the harbour with approval from police or maritime officers, but operators must move directly through and follow any directions given.

A narrow strip of water off Horseshoe Beach remains available for kayaks and other small craft, from the centre of the beach to an imaginary line about 100 metres offshore, which will be marked by yellow buoys placed roughly 130 metres south of the shipping channel. Rising Tide has told supporters it will use this area for its harbour flotilla while the main shipping channel is closed to protesters.

Rising Tide spokesperson Zack Schofield called the decision “a cowardly and draconian attempt to silence protest by a government deeply and profoundly uninterested in its responsibility to the next generation”. He said every effort to “repress peaceful climate protestors” showed the government “would rather protect corporate profit than listen to the people and act to protect our planet and future”. The group says it will not challenge this year’s notice in court but insists “it is still completely legal to join our flotilla just off Horseshoe Beach”.

Schofield said organisers expected thousands of people to travel to Newcastle “because when governments won’t stand up to the greedy coal billionaires the people will”, arguing they were acting urgently as Australians face more floods, bushfires, heatwaves and sea level rise. Rising Tide is demanding the federal government stop approving new coal and gas projects and introduce a steep tax on coal profits to fund a “fair and just transition” for workers and communities.

The People’s Blockade is scheduled to run from 27 November to 2 December, with a protest camp on land and two days of flotilla blockades and concerts based at Camp Shortland and Horseshoe Beach on Awabakal and Worimi land and water. Rising Tide describes the event as “one of the most iconic climate uprisings in the world” and says 2025 will be its largest mobilisation.

Rising Tide points to previous blockades as proof the event has national and international reach, saying a 3,000-strong flotilla in 2023 halted coal ships for 32 hours, with 109 people arrested after taking further action. In 2024, the group says more than 7,000 people joined a ten-day “protestival” in Newcastle and 173 people were arrested after remaining on the waterway to stop coal ships.

Last November the Minns government attempted to impose a four-day exclusion zone that would have made Newcastle Harbour off limits to the public, including nearby beaches, during Rising Tide’s protest. The Supreme Court later ruled that the notice was an improper use of a Marine Safety Act power designed to regulate special events rather than prevent them, and Transport for NSW revoked the zone.

Transport for NSW says marine notices are routinely used to advise vessel operators about hazards, restrictions and closures on the state’s waterways, including around ports and organised events. Police have separately indicated they will run a high-visibility operation around this year’s blockade, stressing they recognise the right to peaceful assembly but warning that unlawful activity on the harbour could result in fines or criminal charges.

The exclusion zone means Rising Tide’s flotilla will be confined to the marked area off Horseshoe Beach, while commercial shipping and authorised vessels continue to use the harbour under tight controls. Protest camp activities and concerts are expected to begin in Newcastle from Thursday 27 November, with the exclusion zone coming into force the following morning and remaining in place until early Monday as organisers push ahead with plans for their third consecutive blockade.