Liberals urge Newcastle Council to block Rising Tide events in 2026

newy.com.au – Liberal councillors from Newcastle, Maitland and Port Stephens are urging Newcastle Council to refuse any future request from protest group Rising Tide to use public land for events in 2026, arguing the latest blockade caused economic damage and stretched police resources.

The councillors say a weekend protest linked to Rising Tide, which they described as a “blockade”, resulted in cruise ship cancellations, lost tourism revenue, disruption to major employers and police being diverted away from normal duties across the Hunter. They want Newcastle Council to deny an event licence for any similar gathering next year, saying the impacts are now being felt well beyond the city.

Newcastle councillors Callum Pull and Jenny Barrie voted against approving the most recent event and have renewed their opposition following the weekend’s disruption. Cr Barrie said she was appalled that activists appeared pleased with the outcome, calling their reaction “disgusting”.

“For Rising Tide activists to be excited about what they’ve done is disgusting,” Cr Barrie said. “Slowing down trade and depriving local businesses of tourism revenue is nothing to boast about.”

Cr Barrie said two cruise ships had cancelled visits, with an estimated $800,000 in tourism dollars lost to the region. She said those ships represented two of only five visits this year and argued “that business is never coming back”.

She said Rising Tide’s blockade affected economic activity across the Hunter, claiming an economic downturn and reputational damage for the city and region with “far reaching consequences for small business and tourism operators across the Hunter”. Cr Barrie also raised concerns that the local police command was already short-staffed and that the event “forced Police away from their normal duties”.

Newcastle Liberal councillor and former deputy lord mayor Callum Pull said police resources had to be stretched to “babysit” protesters over the weekend. “This event is no longer a protest – it is an obstruction,” Cr Pull said. “They’re not just calling for action – they are openly disobeying the law.”

Cr Pull said there were 140 arrests over the weekend, followed by more on Monday. “These people aren’t heroes,” he said. “They’re recklessly and selfishly endangering themselves and the uniformed officers who are trying to protect them.”

He said police were already under pressure and accused Rising Tide of forcing resources to be diverted “to babysit Rising Tide and cater for a stunt”, instead of addressing “major events and issues across the state”. Cr Pull said the event had become “a magnet for far broader protest and obstructionist activity” and claimed activists had “gone beyond the harbour and attacked the Port and Airport”.

“Every year this group is getting bolder and bolder,” Cr Pull said. “Clearly this disruption has grown and must not be enabled or endorsed by Councillors again. Newcastle Council must draw a line here.” He added: “This weekend our City was overrun by radical activists. We cannot surrender our city to them,” and argued, “This has never been about climate action, this has only ever been about stunts for Rising Tide.”

Maitland councillor Mitchell Griffin said residents across the Hunter were “fed up” with the group. “Residents of the Hunter have had enough of Rising Tide,” Cr Griffin said. “They have cost local businesses lost income and forced police resources to be redeployed away from regional towns. And yet, despite guarantees of good behaviour from organisers, we continue to see mass arrests, vandalism, and violence from within the groups involved.”

Port Stephens councillor Nathan Errington said he was appalled by the decision by Newcastle to approve the event, arguing the impacts were flowing into neighbouring local government areas. He said that in the past month two cruise ships had cancelled their visits because of the protest, “hurting our tourism operators and contributing to a noticeable downturn in local business activity across Port Stephens”.

Cr Errington said he was also concerned to hear that a vessel carrying goods essential to major regional employer Tomago Aluminium had been turned around. “How is a major business expected to operate reliably under these circumstances?” he said, adding that “decisions made in Newcastle are clearly having broader impacts on neighboring councils and the regional economy”.

He called on Newcastle to “take responsibility, listen to the concerns of surrounding communities, and think about how giving the green light to these professional protestors is hurting more than just your own city”. Cr Errington said Newcastle Council must not grant an event licence next year, arguing “this situation cannot be repeated” and that the economic stability of the region and the livelihoods of local workers and tourism operators “must come first”.