A 21-year-old woman who was sentenced to three months in prison for securing herself to a coal reclaimer at Newcastle port at the weekend has been released on bail pending the outcome of an appeal.
Laura Davy was jailed until October on Monday after she pleaded guilty to trespassing with a serious safety risk, and seriously disrupting a major facility.
She and 22-year-old Dominic Burgess were arrested early on Sunday morning after they disrupted operations at Port Waratah Coal Services.
The protest took place on behalf of activist group Blockade Australia, which has been coordinating a fortnight-long string of disruptions to the port and coal transport route.
Davy's appeal was lodged late on Monday and she was released on conditional bail.
The Tasmanian resident has been banned from entering NSW except to attend court and will face an appeal hearing in Newcastle District Court on September 3.
Mr Burgess was granted conditional bail without having to enter pleas and his case was adjourned to July 11.
Blockade Australia protests have been going on daily in the Hunter since June 25, causing major disruptions to coal freight and passenger trains.
Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW branch secretary Toby Warnes said on Tuesday protesters should find a way to engage with stakeholders in a more "meaningful and productive way".
"When it comes to the environmental issues we face, we do need a fundamental shift in how we address it. But disrupting trains isn't the answer - to the contrary, supporting them is," he said.
"No matter what you think about climate action, the reality is the system is changing and will continue to change. Our rail freight and public transport systems need to be the centrepiece of action on climate change because they are without questions the cleanest, greenest solutions to many of our transport related environmental issues.
"Dangling off a bridge in front of a moving train and risking someone's life is not the answer, but neither is sticking our heads in the sand and pretending change isn't coming."
The ongoing action prompted a letter on Tuesday from the union to Blockade Australia, urging the organisation to stop sending protesters into the rail corridor.
Mr Warnes' letter, seen by the Newcastle Herald, labelled the group's actions in the Hunter in the past fortnight "negligent and dangerous" and said they were "not protests".
He said the RTBU, as a union, held the right to protest "extremely dear" but safety was paramount.
"[The actions] put the lives of these individuals at risk and are reckless to the significant risk they pose our members who are involved in a fatal accident. For a train driver, such an incident can result in lifelong trauma and can end their careers," he wrote.
"While we understand that your organisation prides itself on pushing the boundaries, it is surely not in anyone's interests for deaths and lifelong injury to be the result, which is inevitably where this pattern of behaviour will end."
Blockade Australia said last week the disruptions would "pale in comparison to the impact of these [climate and ecological] events and getting in the way now while we still have room to manoeuvre is one of the most important things we can be doing".
NSW Greens justice spokesperson Sue Higginson said on Tuesday Davy had been sentenced under anti-protest legislation introduced in 2022 which brought in a maximum jail term of two years and fine of up to $20,000.
Ms Higginson said the introduction of harsher sentences had been widely condemned, and they were "harsh and draconian".
"The fact is no one, no matter who they are, should be subjected to a term of imprisonment for engaging in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience as part of their political and moral objection," she said.
"A mature democracy recognises the importance of political participation beyond the ballot box and this includes peaceful protest and nonviolent civil disobedience, no matter how inconvenient it may be for big business.
"Anti-protest laws in NSW were from the outset designed to protect the profits of big business. You can make millions burning and exporting fossil fuel, but if you're a grandmother or young activist raising the alarm on the climate emergency on the wrong road or railway line, you could do jail time."
