Around 500 protesters took to the streets today in Sydney to demand action on climate change. They marched under the Extinction Rebellion banner, a loosely affiliated global movement aimed at using disruption as a tactic to leverage greater political action on the environment.
Today’s rally marched from Belmore Park near Central Station to Broadway, where protesters set up a pink water tank in the middle of the street. Several people had chained themselves inside. They were later cut free and arrested by police. Slogans on the outside of the tank read, ‘Water is Life’ and ‘Blood of the Earth’.
In the meantime, dozens of other arrests were made by a large contingent of heavily kitted riot squad members and police. Many of those arrested were elderly, including Martin Wolterding, a 75-year old environmental scientist, who was put in a wrist lock and dragged to a waiting van. It’s not known what charges were laid, although several draconian anti-protest laws around Australia either have recently been passed, or are about to be introduced.
The march ended in Central Park where protesters peacefully dispersed. A week of action has been planned by Extinction Rebellion.
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