A climate protester has been arrested and charged after causing major headaches for truckies at the Port of Brisbane on Monday morning, June 19.
Police were called to the incident on Export and Pritchard Streets around 8am and the woman, who had climbed a monopole, was taken into custody around 9.40am.
The 23-year-old Mount Gravatt East woman has been charged with one count each of unregulated high-risk activities, trespass, committing public nuisance, pedestrians causing an obstruction, contravening direction and using dangerous attachment device to interfere with transport.
She is due to appear at Wynnum Magistrates court on July 24.
4BC traffic reporter Olympia Kwitowski said there were huge delays, with “trucks lined up as far as the eye can see”.
The protest was part of a coordinated action by a group called Blockade Australia and also involved similar protests at the Port of Melbourne and Port of Newcastle.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said while people have the right to demonstrate, protests in precarious sites put emergency service personnel at risk.
“Emergency service workers, particularly the police, are put in extreme danger as a result of having to go and remove people from dangerous situations,” he said on 2GB radio.
“It’s one of the reasons we supported the previous government’s protest laws which are going to remain in place.”