Event teaches students how to protest
Protestors who are not fans of being pepper-sprayed, handcuffed or locked up in a police cell spent two hours learning how to avoid the common commotions on Thursday night.
The Protest Skills Night event, organised by Climate Liberation Aotearoa (CLA), was held in the University Students' Association Centre and aimed to show protesters how to demonstrate their points, using "non-violent direct action techniques".
Event co-ordinator Cora Scott said many people were passionate about the environment, but might be too scared to voice their concerns at protests because of the unsavory things that sometimes happen.
The event aimed to help them avoid those elements, in the hope it would entice more people to get involved in upcoming protest actions.
"At the moment, we are trying to get university students upskilled in how to protest, in anticipation of a nationwide action that we've got coming up at ANZ bank.
"It is part of our campaign to get ANZ bank to drop Bathurst Resources as a customer.
"Bathurst Resources is the company pushing to blast open a 20million-tonne coal mine on the Denniston Plateau," she said.
CLA hit the headlines in April this year when six climate activists climbed on to the cable cars used to transport coal from Bathurst Resources' Stockton Mine, halting operations and drawing attention to the company's plan to expand coal mining across the nearby Denniston Plateau.
The action followed a five-day protest encampment, involving more than 70 people on the Denniston Plateau, where 10 people were arrested.
Miss Scott said the skills night aimed to get as many people as possible to join Climate Liberation Aotearoa in a protest outside the George St branch of ANZ in Dunedin on August 8.
"We'll be showing them how to stay calm at protests, and not respond emotionally to high-stress situations — it's a pretty versatile skill set, in my opinion.
"The aim is to keep them from being pepper-sprayed or arrested or spending a night in a jail cell.
"We'll be talking about how to avoid escalating a situation or getting on the wrong side of the police or other members of the public."
It was essentially about dealing with people who might be upset or reacting negatively to their protest actions, she said.
john.lewis@odt.co.nz
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