Court records no conviction over Port of Newcastle protest
Hannah Thomas had an anti-protest charge dismissed in Newcastle Local Court on 26 June 2026 after her arrest at the Rising Tide People’s Blockade on 28 November 2025. Hannah Thomas, a former Greens candidate, was charged after joining a protest in the water near the Port of Newcastle.
Judge Caleb Franklin dismissed the matter with no conviction recorded. He also ordered Thomas to be of good behaviour for 12 months. She had pleaded guilty to entering or remaining on and seriously disrupting or obstructing the use of a major facility.
That offence falls under section 214A of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). The Perrottet government introduced the anti-protest provision in 2022. It carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison.
Protest at the coal port
Thousands of people entered the water during the Rising Tide People’s Blockade at the Port of Newcastle in November 2025. Activists used kayaks and canoes to protest Australia’s coal exports and coal’s role in climate change at the world’s biggest coal export port.
Rising Tide described the 2025 blockade as its largest mobilisation yet. More than 8,000 people took part, while about 130 people were arrested during the event.
Thomas said, “As Europe swelters through a record-breaking, killer heatwave, NSW Police are taking peaceful protesters to court for sounding the alarm on climate collapse.” She added, “The real threat to our future is a system that profits from climate destruction and war, not those who protest it.”
In a second statement, Thomas said, “I’m proud to have been part of a mass movement willing to put their bodies and liberties on the line to disrupt the coal and gas industry.”
Meanwhile, Julia Grix, Executive Director and Principal Solicitor of Climate Defenders Australia, welcomed the result. Grix said, “Today’s outcome is welcome – but the threat of imprisonment should never have been a possibility and would have been unthinkable in Australia only a few years ago.”
She added, “Hannah Thomas should never have faced the prospect of time in jail for participating in a peaceful protest.” Grix was part of the legal team behind a successful constitutional challenge to the anti-protest laws in the NSW Supreme Court in 2023.
Climate Defenders Australia represented Thomas in the case. Grix said the group would “continue to see these cases through the courts to defend the rights of concerned citizens involved in this event”.
Last updated: 29 June 2026, 11:45 am
