decision

Commissioner of Police (NSW) v Coglin - decision

Litigation

Sabin

Sabin Litigation

Filing Year For Action

The case was brought by the Commissioner of Police under the Summary Offences Act 1988 (NSW) §25, seeking an order from the court to prohibit two public assemblies notified to the Commissioner. Justice Fagan ordered the assemblies to be prohibited on November 7, 2024. 

Originally, two public assemblies were notified to the police by Rising Tide, a group of individuals focused on defending the climate. The first assembly was to take place at Horseshoe Beach, Newcastle, and adjoining parkland, intended to continue for approximately eight days with an expected attendance of 10,000 people. This assembly was agreed to be shortened to four days after the second day of hearing. The second assembly was to take place on the waters of Newcastle Harbour off Horseshoe Beach, over three days that overlap with the first protest, with an expected attendance of 1,000 people. Both assemblies were purposed to "protest against [the Australian] governments’ continuing approval of new coal projects, and to call for an urgent transition away from coal exports, funded by a tax on the profits of those exports."

Justice Fagan, in prohibiting both assemblies, noted the unusually long duration and potential safety concerns. He pointed out that protests on shipping channels raise safety issues for both protesters and police, an issue that would not arise in a conventional assembly or street march. Justice Fagan further noted that an assembly on the water can preserve police powers to keep the port open by arresting any protesters who impede safe navigation. Because police cannot arrest protesters protected under the Summary Offences Act 1988 (NSW) §24, the court found that allowing the protest in water would practically be allowing the protestors "to blockade the harbour" without the risk of arrests under the Marine Safety Act 1988 (NSW) even after infringing the law. The court, in reaching the decision, also considered Rising Tide's civil disobedience in a previous protest, and a public statement made by that protest's organizer that "[e]ffective protest means pushing the boundaries and we needed to disrupt the Newcastle coal port as long as we possibly could. We were scheduled to finish our 30 hour blockade but the cops didn’t know we were going to keep it going longer than we had planned for." Overall, based on the potential inconvenience to the public based on duration and location, safety concerns, and previous interaction between the parties, the court found that the assemblies should be prohibited.