A woman accused of attempting to access the Glencore office in Newcastle and two people accused of intending to halt a coal train are among the climate protesters police have charged following coordinated action.
Police were called to multiple locations across Newcastle about 6.30am on Friday, June 26, to reports of trespassing and unauthorised protest activity.
Officers were told six protesters allegedly entered a rail corridor at Mangrove Road in Sandgate with the intention of stopping a coal train.
Security guards intercepted the group and police later arrested two members.
A short time later, police arrested another two protesters allegedly attempting to leave the area on Riverside Drive at Mayfield West. Another protester was arrested allegedly attempting to leave the scene in a vehicle.
Police arrested a 66-year-old woman outside a building on Hunter Street in Newcastle about 10am after officers intercepted a group allegedly trying to gain access to the inside of the premises.
Later that afternoon, a 23-year-old man attended Waratah Police Station, where he was arrested.
The seven arrests included four men, aged 18, 54, 23 and 62, and three women, aged 66, 20, and 22, who were each taken to Newcastle or Waratah Police Stations for charging.
The 66-year-old woman was issued a notice to attend court charged with entering enclosed non-agricultural lands and interfering with business.
The other six were each separately charged with causing obstruction to a railway locomotive or rolling stock, and entering enclosed non-agricultural lands and interfering with business.
None of the protesters remain in custody. They will each face Newcastle Local Court at a later date.
Climate action group Rising Tide said the 66-year-old woman was arrested when 24 supporters protested at Glencore's Newcastle office in objection to the Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) coal mine expansion.
Rising Tide identified the woman as Linda Alcorn, and said she claimed she was "doing this for my grandchildren".
Rising Tide has a long history of protesting in the Hunter, holding the People's Blockade of the World's Largest Coal Port annually.
