Question time in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly halted for several minutes on Tuesday when climate activists from Rising Tide hurled government and academic reports onto the floor and one protester vaulted from the public gallery into the chamber, forcing MPs and parliamentary staff to restrain him before security arrived.
The disruption, which began around 12:40 p.m. local time, targeted the Minns government’s approval last month of a 19-year extension for the Hunter Valley Operations coal complex near Singleton. Rising Tide called the decision the state’s biggest climate policy failure and demanded an end to new coal and gas approvals.
What unfolded in the chamber
Eight activists threw printed pages into the chamber, including material from the Net Zero Commission that warned mine expansions could breach New South Wales’ legislated emissions targets, according to footage shared by the group and reporting from the parliamentary livestream. Speaker Greg Piper cut the broadcast feed as MPs reacted.
Independent MP Michael Regan and Labor MP David Saliba were among those who moved to restrain Andrew Sneddon after he climbed over the gallery barrier and reached the floor, video published by Rising Tide showed. Attorney-General Michael Daley told the house he had never seen a visitor jump into the chamber in 21 years of service, labelling the conduct that of a “ratbag” behaving illegally.
Planning Minister Paul Scully was mid-speech when the protest began. News outlets reported the group had sought a meeting with Premier Chris Minns on coal exports before turning to the gallery stunt.
Police response and security fallout
NSW Police said special constables removed a 35-year-old man from the chamber and issued a move-on direction, which he complied with. No further action was expected on Tuesday afternoon. Piper told members he would launch a review of security protocols to protect the chamber and visitors in the front rows of the gallery.
The breach is sensitive because NSW Parliament prides itself on relatively open public access compared with other Australian legislatures. Daley said lawmakers wanted to keep that tradition without inviting repeat invasions of the floor.
Political context of the protest
The Independent Planning Commission approved the Hunter Valley Operations continuation project on 30 September, allowing mining at HVO North until 2045 and HVO South until 2042 at the Glencore–Yancoal joint venture. Rising Tide argues the extension locks in export coal volumes incompatible with state climate law.
The Minns government has defended the decision as meeting planning and economic tests; activists counter that approving a major thermal coal precinct undermines net-zero legislation passed in Macquarie Street. Tuesday’s spectacle is unlikely to reverse the commission’s ruling, but it guarantees a fresh round of debate about security, protest rights and coal policy in an election cycle where Labor faces pressure from Greens-held inner-city seats and coal-dependent regions alike.
For now, parliamentary officials must explain how a protester reached the floor at all — and whether tighter gallery screening will follow before the security review reports back.