Max Curmi, 26 – the man who scaled a 60m crane on Friday as part of the Port of Botany protests organised by Blockade Australia – has today been sentenced to 4-months in prison by a magistrate at Waverley local court. Max climbed a crane, shutting down one of the terminals in Port Botany and prevented the loading of the ship he was suspended above. The 4-month prison sentence will be appealed immediately.
During his action, Max said; “If you’re serious about climate action you have to get serious about the organised disruption of Australia.”
“The system was rigged from the beginning to make sure that the people who wanted to extract resources could make as much money as they possibly could.”
“The climate crisis is not only being ignored but being actively blocked by the system we call Australia.”
This comes after 5 consecutive days of major disruption to the largest container freight port on the continent. The protests saw 9 people arrested for 9 different actions that caused huge delays to one of the continent’s major supply chains. Blockade Australia is causing disruption to major political and economic bottlenecks in the Australian system due to that system’s leading role in causing the climate crisis.
The police formed a strike force in response to the protests, deported two German nationals, gave restrictive bail conditions and ultimately sentenced Max to 4-months in prison.
Jarrah Kershaw, Blockade Australia spokesperson says; “The scale of repression used by the state is not a shock, the legal system is just another tool that the Australian system uses to maintain the status quo. That status quo being the destruction of eco and social systems in order to benefit the elite who have been making money off of this destruction for decades.”
“Australia has a long history of being a police state, Blockade Australia acknowledges and abhors the long genocidal campaign Australia has waged on the First People of this continent. This genocidal campaign has used the legal system countless times to oppress people and maintain the status quo.”
“Heavy-handed police repression will not prevent Blockade Australia from continuing to mobilise to cause major disruption to a system that is bent on exploitation, extraction and the devastation of everything we know and love. This will serve only to inspire more people to take action to resist the climate inaction of Australia.”
“Blockade Australia will be back, bigger than ever, to blockade the economic heart of Australia, Sydney, on June 27th – for a week of disruptive protest and direct action.”
