Four climate activists remain suspended in coal cable cars more than 30 hours after their bold action began, continuing to blockade coal from leaving Bathurst Resources’ Stockton Mine. The protest has successfully stopped all coal transport out of Stockton Mine, halting Bathurst’s ability to export coal and drawing attention to the company’s massive expansion plans.

“We’ve been here for two sunrises now because this mine is a line in the sand,” said Adam Currie, one of the activists suspended in a coal cart.

Currie said the protest had taken on additional significance following the news of Pope Francis’s passing.

“Pope Francis was one of the strongest global voices on climate justice. His groundbreaking encyclical Laudato si' called on all of us, especially young people, to act boldly in defence of our common home,” said Currie, rangatahi climate activist. “So yes, we'll stay in this cold, grimy, and wet coal bucket, because someone has to. Bathurst wants to unleash 53 million tonnes of climate pollution - that’s more than New Zealand emits in a whole year. We can’t allow that future.”

The occupation follows a five-day protest camp of over 70 people, including tamariki and kaumātua, on the Denniston Plateau, the site of Bathurst’s proposed coal expansion.

Campaigners say Bathurst’s plan would devastate a landscape rich with life, including great spotted kiwi, green geckos, and ancient sandstone ecosystems, and have committed to escalating action if the plan isn’t scrapped.

“This is only the beginning,” said Currie. “We’ve had whānau, churchgoers, students, grandparents — all standing together. Once the pristine Denniston plateau is mined, it's gone forever. People are tired of being shut out while foreign corporations backed by banks like ANZ push us deeper into climate breakdown. We're not standing for it any longer. In fact we're sitting. In a coal bucket. Shutting down the biggest coal mine in NZ.”

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