New South Wales (NSW) police have assembled a new strike force aimed at targeting environmental protesters who have continued to block trains near the world’s biggest coal export hub, the Port of Newcastle.
Codenamed Touhy, the operation will comprise of officers from Police Rescue, Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, Public Order and Riot Squad and PolAir and comes after police arrested 19 members of Blockade Australia—a group that seeks to create economic bottlenecks to halt operations in carbon dioxide-emitting industries. It will also contain intelligence resources to assist in extensive monitoring and patrols of the railway line.
