Police went to court to stop it. More than 600 paddlers crossed the world’s biggest coal port anyway, and no one was arrested
Rising Tide's anti-coal flotilla on Newcastle Harbour went ahead on Saturday with more than 600 people on the water, and police made no arrests. It came a day after a NSW Supreme Court judge refused a police bid to stop it, finding the public interest in political expression outweighed police safety concerns, and ordered police to pay the costs.
Live updates
- 1.10pm AWST SatLatest
The on-water protest is over. A NSW Police spokesperson says no arrests were made, and no incidents have been reported. More than 600 people took to the water, with hundreds more on the shore.
- 8am AWST Sat
Kayaks go on the water from Horseshoe Beach. No ships are scheduled to move through the port during the protest.
- 5.40pm AWST Fri
Police say they will run a high-visibility operation around the harbour on Saturday, with zero tolerance for illegal and dangerous behaviour.
- Friday afternoon AWST
Justice Edward Muston refuses the NSW Police application to prohibit the flotilla and orders police to pay costs.
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Three things to know
- The on-water protest is over. A NSW Police spokesperson said no arrests had been made by the time it finished, and no incidents were reported.
- Police had argued in court that the risk of collision, capsize and drowning was too high. Justice Edward Muston found the risk moderate and said help would be close at hand.
- Rising Tide says it will be back at the end of February 2027 with a bigger protest on the harbour, about a fortnight before the NSW election on 13 March.
More than 600 people in kayaks and other small craft paddled onto Newcastle Harbour on Saturday for Rising Tide’s anti-coal flotilla, and a NSW Police spokesperson said no arrests had been made by the time the on-water protest ended. Hundreds more watched from Horseshoe Beach, where organisers said more than 900 people had registered. No coal ships were scheduled to move through the port during the protest, and no incidents were reported.
The flotilla went ahead because the NSW Supreme Court on Friday afternoon refused an application by the NSW Police Commissioner to prohibit it. Justice Edward Muston said the public interest in facilitating political expression through assembly outweighed the “legitimate concerns” the Commissioner had raised, and ordered police to pay the legal costs.
What were police worried about?
Drowning. Police argued the event posed serious risks to people on the water and to other harbour users. Their barrister, David Hume SC, told the court the risk of “collision, capsize and drowning is catastrophic”, and Assistant Commissioner David Waddell said he had not yet seen a Rising Tide event run safely. Police pointed to an incident last year in which protesters were carried hundreds of metres down the harbour, and said earlier anti-coal events had stretched their resources on land and water.
The judge accepted the risks existed but found most came from individuals choosing to enter the water, and that with so many people present, anyone who fell out would likely be noticed quickly. On Saturday, police kept a limited presence, mostly on foot.
What did the protesters want?
An end to new coal and gas approvals. Rising Tide spokesperson Joe Hallenstein said federal and NSW Labor governments “continue to approve new coal and gas projects”, and accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of presenting Australia as a climate leader at the COP31 talks in Türkiye while doing the opposite at home. Organisers had told the court the event was not a blockade and ruled out civil disobedience.
Why does it matter?
Newcastle is the world’s largest coal export port, and the flotilla took place while world leaders meet at COP31. It was also a test of how far police can pre-emptively stop protests on safety grounds. A judge said no, made the state pay, and the event that police warned could end in drownings finished without an arrest or a reported incident.
How we got here
The key moments that brought this story into focus. Open any moment for detail.
Last yearProtesters swept down harbour
Police cite an incident in which protesters were carried hundreds of metres down Newcastle Harbour.
10 November 2026Council ban
Newcastle council votes, on the Lord Mayor's casting vote, to bar Rising Tide from community land.
13 November 2026Court ruling
The Supreme Court refuses the police bid to stop the flotilla.
14 November 2026Flotilla goes ahead
More than 600 people paddle onto the harbour; police make no arrests.
What happens next
Rising Tide says it plans a larger on-water protest on Newcastle Harbour at the end of February 2027, about two weeks before the NSW election on 13 March 2027. Police have not said whether they will seek to stop it, or whether they will challenge Friday's ruling.
Sources
- VNN
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