The New South Wales deputy premier has told climate change protesters to “go and get a real job” after police made 10 arrests across Sydney.
Blockade Australia protesters were among a group of 50 to 60 activists who converged on Hyde Park about 8am on Monday, before marching towards the harbour, chanting, playing drums, with some pulling down signs, dragging wheelie bins onto the road and blocking intersections.
One of those arrested was a 22-year-old woman who allegedly locked herself to the steering wheel of her car and blocked the harbour tunnel.
Police arrest two people on Friday in relation to earlier raids on Blockade Australia at Colo valley.
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Blockade Australia live-streamed a video of the car as it blocked all citybound lanes of traffic for about an hour.
Deputy premier Paul Toole said the protesters had no concern for the public and had spent the morning throwing milk crates, garbage bins and other rubbish throughout the city centre.
“I would say this to the protesters: Go and get a real job,” he said.
“Go and talk to somebody who’s actually been delayed in getting to work today.”
The protests began at 8am in Hyde Park. The group said their aim was “to cause disruption to the political and economic systems of Australia which are driving climate destruction”, with a group converging about 8am at Hyde Park.
At one point, a motorist attempted to drive through the protests, hitting activists on the way.’
Protesters dispersed when police stopped them at the intersection of George and Bridge streets, blocking access to the harbour tunnel for an hour from 8.15am.
All traffic was diverted via the Harbour Bridge and vehicles were backed up for several kilometres.
NSW police allege the woman who blocked the tunnel put a bicycle lock around her neck and attached herself to the steering wheel before being removed from the car and arrested.
Blockade Australia protesting in Sydney in March. Police arrested seven protesters from the group after a raid on a Colo Valley property on Sunday
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Speaking of the protest generally, Assistant Commissioner Paul Dunstan told reporters: “the throwing of bicycles, the throwing of garbage bins, the throwing of other items in the path of police, in the path of media, in the path of innocent members of the public just walking by, will not be tolerated and cannot be by the people of NSW.”
Blockade Australia have previously held disruptive protests on the Harbour Bridge, the Spit Bridge and Port Botany.
Dunstan said the haphazard nature of Blockade Australia’s tactics proved to be troublesome for police, before arrests were made.
“The group this morning was highly unorganised and erratic, and they were moving throughout the CBD in an unstructured format. It was difficult to get ahead of them,” he said.
Labor leader Chris Minns said it was not sustainable for the protesters to routinely bring Sydney to a standstill.
“We may have had women waiting to get to emergency departments, birthing centres to give birth to children or [other] emergencies,” Minns said Monday.
He added that the Albanese Labor government had committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, and had ambitious interim targets for 2030.
Police were out in force in the city centre and had a heavy presence on the Harbour Bridge after the group last week flagged a resurgence in their activities.
Blockade Australia said it would continue to cause disruptions all week.
“Disruption to the infrastructure of Australia’s project of exploitation is essential in cutting through the climate denial that this system survives off,” it said.
A spokeswoman for the group, said Sydney had been where Australia’s destruction of the continent had been most intense.
“Our collective survival rests on organised opposition and the use of strategic direct action to stand against this project of destruction.”
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Earlier this year, the NSW government passed legislation to crackdown on illegal protesters following several arrests of climate change activists blocking traffic and access to ports.
Protesters face a maximum penalty of two years’ jail and $22,000 fines for disrupting traffic or preventing access on roads.
The legislation also created new offences targeting people blocking access to major facilities such as ports and railways.
