Thursday 27 November: Nannas arrive at Rising Tide Blockade, Labor makes a deal with the Greens, watching coal ships coming and going in Newcastle coal port.
Rising Tide Blockade Day 1
The Hunter Knitting Nannas did a great job setting up Nannas Central and Nanna Care while other Nannas arrived throughout the day.
By 4.00pm today we had 15 Nannas for the Welcome ceremony to Awabakal and Worimi Country at the Rising Tide Protestival. This was followed by some fabulous and fearsome dancers.
Today’s message still lingers – Respect your Elders. We can go for that!
Flags were flapping as the wind came up in Foreshore Park, especially from midday until around 3.30pm. But the Nannas invented ways to anchor things down. More high winds are forecast for tomorrow.
Elizabeth’s knitted koala head on a bike is sitting outside Bob Brown Foundation’s stall.
Labor makes deal with the Greens on EPBC Act
The day started well for the Nannas as the Labor Party announced that they were working with the Greens to pass the Environmental Protection Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. All week Nannas had been calling and emailing Labor senators, signing petitions and writing submissions as per our Action of the Week. We were worried Labor would instead do a deal with the Coalition to get the legislation passed this week, the last sitting week of the year.
Seven ways Australia’s nature laws are changing after Labor’s deal with the Greens (The Guardian)
Newcastle Coal Port
Meanwhile coal ships were coming and going into Newcastle coal port. An empty one comes in and two hours later we see another one go out. Note the red in the above photo – this is nearly under water when full – see the following photo. We thought it may have been the same one but it takes 14 hours to load a coal ship. Either full or empty – Nannas are not happy.
