Climate activists, who are demanding new coal mines be made illegal, will continue a disruptive protest into Sunday at a major Australian harbour, costing a local economy nearly $1million

Disruptive protests will continue through Sunday and into next week as hundreds of activists push to make new coal mines illegal. Dozens of kayaks, canoes and small boats are currently occupying Newcastle Harbour and have been all day Saturday. The flotilla is part of an annual event rallying against the world's largest coal export port. Thousands participate each year with their latest objective set towards outlawing any new coal mines the government seeks to approve. Rising Tide organisers said they expect the number of people in the harbour to exceed 7,000 come Sunday. To ensure the safety of all involved, including the coal export ships protesters seek to disrupt, a marine exclusion zone was established for activists on Friday. This zone is set to ensure no protesters breach the shipping channel which could cost stakeholders more than $1 million each day that exports are stalled. Despite this, activists, including prominent politicians, have justified their actions as a means of disrupting the 'enormous contribution to the climate crisis' they see coal to be. Organiser Alexa Stuart said nothing would stop her group from continuing its efforts. 'Despite the NSW government's attempts to shut us down, the people's blockade of the world's largest coal port is happening,' Ms Stuart . 'Thousands of ordinary citizens (are) uniting to demand our government stops approving new coal and gas projects and heavily tax coal corporations to fund a community-led transition away from coal.' Australian Greens leader, Senator Melissa Waters, was among those in the flotilla and she posted numerous videos to her social media channels as a sign of support. 'There's thousands of people here that are about to block coal ships exiting the port of Newcastle, the world's biggest coal export port,' Ms Waters said. 'I could not feel prouder to be part of this movement ... we don't need any more coal and gas, we need 100 per cent renewables as quickly as we can.' Other notable figures in attendance included environmental engineer and former president of Engineers Australia, Professor David Hood AM, and local surgeon Dr Stanley Chen. Mr Hood said he was there to protect his grandchildren from the effects of climate change while Dr Chen asserted that all coal mines should be made illegal. Saturday's protests were preceded by two days of rallies held along the harbour which NSW Police have thus far let the protestors do their business in peace but officers have warned they will be taking a zero-tolerance policy towards any rule breakers. Although the marine exclusion zone will remain in place through to Monday, some commercial cruise services have delayed their services until the activity has ended. Viking Cruise Line cancelled a scheduled entry into the harbour which cost the local economy an estimated $800,000, Hunter Business Chamber chief executive Bob Hawes said. This loss stems from the expected passenger spending which will no longer occur in the township. In 2023, a similar flotilla prevented ships from leaving or entering Newcastle Port during a 30-hour blockade in November. This activity was again organised by Rising Tide and featured an appearance from then-Greens leader Adam Bandt. Mr Bandt led calls for the government to end new coal and gas projects, adopt a 75 per cent emissions reduction target and stop coal exports from Newcastle. 'In the middle of the climate crisis Labor is making the problem worse by opening more coal and gas mines,' he said. Little action has been taken on the issue in the time since.