Protests at ports ought to be “dealt with more firmly,” NSW’s Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations and Member of the Legislative Council, the Hon Damien Tudehope, declared at the Shipping Australia NSW Parliamentary Luncheon earlier this week, adding that “any major disruption to shipping poses a serious threat to everyone in New South Wales”.
Mr Tudehope’s comments were made in the context of the the anti-Israel protests at Port Botany and the “reckless annual Rising Tide protests at the Port of Newcastle.
He noted that five union members were sentenced under laws to protect major facilities, including ports, from being disrupted by protests. These laws were introduced by the former Coalition government.
Mr Tudehope observed that protests at Newcastle gained international attention after the port was closed to shipping for 32 hours when more than 100 activists broke the agreed finishing time for the protests and had to be arrested on-water “at some risk to the water police and themselves”.
He criticized the State and City governments for their actions.
“In 2025, the Government failed to take the necessary steps to prevent the protest, including a last-minute attempt by the former Minister for Transport to use a power related to facilitating special events on water to stop the Rising Tide on-water event. The permit from the City of Newcastle also didn’t help,” Mr Tudehope told Luncheon guests.
He added that plans for a 2025 blockade in November are “well under way” and are billed to be the “biggest and boldest yet”.
Mr Tudehope threw down a challenge to the State Government.
“Will the Minns Labor Government act in a timely and effective manner to ensure zero disruption to the operation of the Port of Newcastle. I highly doubt it”.
Thank you to our sponsors
Shipping Australia’s NSW Parliamentary Luncheon was held with the generous support of the Port of Newcastle, The MCC Group, and OneStop. Shipping Australia thanks our sponsors for their generous support. Thank you.
A further story on our event will be published next week.
