One protester is in custody and another was taken to hospital after Extinction Rebellion activists stepped in front of a moving coal train headed for the Port of Brisbane.
The train driver was forced to slam on the emergency brakes after a group of protesters climbed on to the freight tracks in Wynnum on Thursday afternoon, police said.
“Then three men approached the carriages [and] one of them got up on to the carriage … the man wouldn’t come down,” a police spokesman said on Friday.
Officers coaxed him down about 7.45pm and he was charged with obstructing the railway, trespass and obstructing police. He remains in custody and will appear in the Cleveland magistrates court on Saturday.
About 2am on Friday, an activist chained herself to a concrete-filled 44-gallon drum placed on the same railway line in Wynnum West. “She’s sat on the tracks and locked herself on,” the spokesman said.
The woman remained locked to the drum until she released herself and surrendered to police about 7am. “She had a low body temperature so Queensland Ambulance took her to the Princess Alexandra hospital.”
The woman has been released from the hospital and was also charged with obstructing the railway, trespass and obstructing police. She was bailed to appear in Wynnum magistrates court on 7 May.
No train was involved in the second incident.
An Extinction Rebellion activist, Emma Dorge, said the group was protesting against the lack of action in Australia in response to the global climate crisis.
“We can’t wait any more, we’re taking direct action so people understand the danger the planet is in,” she said.