Climate protesters have brought Adelaide’s streets to a standstill after they drove off a bridge during protests against a fossil fuels conference.
A bunch from Extinction Rebel rallied around 69-year-old protester Meme Thorne, who dangled from the side of the Morphett St. Bridge, bringing traffic and streetcars to a halt in the world.
They were protesting the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) conference held on the nearby Adelaide Convention Centre.
Extinction Rebel SA said the protest “goals to highlight APPEA’s clear intention to expand gas and oil exploration and production” within the face of the climate crisis.
Thorne was suspended from the bridge for roughly 90 minutes before being removed by authorities.
She was taken down by the police at a cherry picker before being detained around 9am.
SA police said that they had arrested a 69-year-old woman for blocking a public place.
She said the state and federal government’s “halfway” response to climate change prompted Thorne to take motion.
“APPEA and its billionaires enjoy their pots of gold at our expense. We are saying they should not welcome here in South Australia or anywhere on the planet,” she said.
“I’m ready to take direct motion to deliver this message to the federal government and all of the fools at APPEA: now we have been hanging within the air for too long. It is time to sever all ties to fossil fuels. Keep the coal in the bottom!”
Extinction Rebel SA apologized for the inconvenience brought on by the protest, but said it was needed because “our leadership will not be acting” on climate change.
“What’s mainly happening here is disruption which we understand is inconvenient,” she told ABC Radio Adelaide.
“But I believe every Australian understands that floods, droughts and bushfires are also very inconvenient and put many more lives in danger across our country.”
Energy and Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis criticized the best way the protests were conducted and said they’d backfire in getting people to support climate change efforts.
“These childish stunts do nothing but discourage people from the difficult task of decarbonisation,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide.
“They’ve decided to protest on the stretch of road that leads to the Royal Adelaide Hospital. There are people who find themselves probably going for day surgery, shift change, let alone the best way ambulances get on and off, and the inconvenience they put South Australians through is by far essentially the most offensive thing they’ve done.
“They will go outside the conference, and we’ll take their protest into consideration. They’ve the proper to protest, but what they’re doing now’s frankly reckless they usually should know higher.”
APPEA chief Samantha McCulloch said the organization respected “people’s right to legally protest” however the protests were misdirected.
“…the protests this week are protesting a conference on climate change motion and emission reduction technologies such as carbon capture and hydrogen,” McCulloch said.
“Also they are protesting an industry that’s critical to achieving net zero and the health of South Australia’s and national economies – providing governments with greater than $16 billion in revenue this yr, employing 80,000 people and powering thousands and thousands of homes and businesses across Australia.”