A Sydney council has sparked outrage by pledging to donate tens of thousands of dollars to a famous climate group just hours after a disruptive protest.
The City of Sydney pledged to donate $22,000 of taxpayer funds to the Rising Tide group “to use for whatever they choose” at a meeting on Monday night.
It came just hours after the group disrupted the shipping channel to the world’s largest coal port at Newcastle Harbour, north of Sydney, on Sunday.
New South Wales Police arrested 170 people, including 14 youths, for allegedly defying officers’ instructions at the protest.
Activists in kayaks demanded that the federal government end approval of new coal and gas projects and impose a 78 percent tax on export earnings from fossil fuels.
At Monday’s meeting, Jess Miller, an ally of Sydney Mayor Clover Moore, tabled a motion to donate $22,000 to the pool from the city’s contingency funds.
All councilors except Liberal Lyndon Gannon voted in favor of the motion.
Gannon said it was a “slap in the face to everyone who lives in the real world.”
Climate protesters took to the water in an attempt to block access to Newcastle coal port.
Climate activists in kayaks and on land demanded that the federal government end approval of new coal and gas projects during a well-attended protest on Sunday.
“We have food aid centers and homeless shelters with lines out the door, and we give money to a fringe climate change action group because ‘it feels good,'” he told the Daily Telegraph.
Sydney Mayor Clover Moore personally supported the motion.
Moore said the mass arrests at the Rising Tide protest in Newcastle were an “indication of the terrible distress people are feeling”.
“How shameful it is to be the world’s largest coal exporter at a time when global warming is accelerating,” he said.
Labor councilors Zann Maxwell and Mitch Wilson backed the donation in response to the Minns government’s decision last week to increase penalties for protesters who disrupt law-abiding citizens by blocking railways and trains.
Maxwell said the laws increasing penalties were “rushed through parliament without community consultation”.
“They infringe on the basic freedoms and protections expected in our democratic society,” Mr Maxwell said.
NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman criticized the donation to Rising Tide.
170 people, including 14 young people, were arrested for allegedly defying instructions at the protest
“As families struggle with the cost of living, $22,000 has been donated to cover activists’ fines,” he said. SkyNews.
The rising tide website states: “We are the rising tide of ordinary people, called by extraordinary times.”
“We are a diverse movement demanding that Australia deliver on our commitment to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.”
“We are prepared to take all peaceful actions within our reach to defend the climate.”