More than 700 protesters march through Brisbane city, to end at the ABC headquarters in South Brisbane Queensland Police said the large crowd was mostly peaceful, however six men and one woman were arrested and detained for breaching the peace.
Of the seven, five glued themselves to Russell Street in South Bank before being removed by police.
No charges have been laid. Greens councillor urged protesters to ‘get arrested’ Speaking at the protest’s starting point in the CBD’s Brisbane Square, Greens councillor Jonathan Sri told the crowd they would not be able to stop the project “without mass civil disobedience”.
“Right now what we need is as many people as possible who are willing to get arrested, who are willing to put their bodies on the line,” he said.
“This is people power on the ground. “You need to mobilise on the streets in
large numbers.” The rally’s organisers, Students for Climate Justice and Movement Against Destruction, said the Government’s decision to approve Adani’s groundwater plan for the mine was an “absolute disgrace”.
“It will spell the end of the Galilee Basin and cause irrevocable destruction to million-year- old ecosystems,” organiser Catherine Robertson said. “We will not stand idly by whilst the Government makes decisions that are hurtling us toward a point of no return on the environmental crisis.”
Bob Carnegie from the Maritime Union Australia (MUA) urged the crowd not to lose hope. “We keep fighting, we keep struggling, we are proworker, we are pro-unions … it’s up to us to save the world,” he told them.
Peak hour traffic brought to a standstill Protesters gathered from 4:00pm (AEST) in Brisbane Square and listened to the speeches before heading across the Victoria Bridge about 6:00pm. Buses were brought to a standstill as the crowd staged a sit-down on the bridge.
A second sit-down was held on the corner Russell and Grey streets outside the ABC’s South Bank office where the group had wanted a live-cross in the 7:00pm TV bulletin.
Queensland Police said the last road closure in South Brisbane ended at about 9.20pm.
