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.

Commissioner of Police (NSW) v Coglin

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Commissioner of Police (NSW) v Coglin - decision

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

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Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Coastal zone and marine-related actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience to climate change

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Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

Commissioner of Police (NSW) v Coglin - decision

Policy instrument

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance