Thank you for a non-sensational report on the jail sentence for the young protester who locked onto a coal reclaimer ("Three months in jail for coal protester", NH, 9/7). Australians need to know that these defiant, brave people, who are essentially only a danger to business-as-usual, are paying an extraordinary price for attempting to push our governments to do a better job of protecting us all from climate breakdown.
We should also be wondering why the sentences are so harsh, especially when compared with, say, protesters who a few years ago challenged COVID-19 regulations. Many of these individuals were aggressive and violent towards police. They caused massive disruption to cities. At least one rally was attended by 1400 police. Some protests resulted in police officers catching COVID-19. At least one ended up in hospital. After all that, only one protester, an organiser who travelled illegally through state borders, faced jail.
