THE SUPREME Court of New South Wales has has cleared the way for a climate protest on Newcastle Harbour scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday 14 November).
The protest, organised by Rising Tide’s Paddle for the Planet flotilla, is to proceed despite the objections of New South Wales police.
The ABC quoted Justice Edward Muston as saying he had to balance the interests of the public with the concerns of police.
"The public interests in the facilitations of political expression through assembly outweighs the legitimate concerns which have been expressed by the commissioner," the ABC reported.
The protest is to occur at Horseshoe Beach on Saturday morning.
In a social media post, Rising Tide claimed humanity was "already feeling the devastating impacts of the climate crisis, and scientists project that almost half a million people around the world will die by February due to the climate-fuelled super El Nino".
"That's why we protest," the social media post stated.
"We shouldn't have to be in court, defending our right to protest, but the Minns Labor Government is hell-bent on suppressing peaceful protest, and are doing everything they can to try to silence dissent."
The court's ruling follows a decision by the Newcastle Council earlier in the week to ban Rising Tide from using public land