Legal Observers NSW deployed a team of independent legal observers at the Rising Tide protest in Newcastle. This report records the observations of the team from Thursday to Sunday.

Police set up the buoys to mark the exclusion zone on Thursday morning. The buoys stated ‘exclusion zone do not enter’ and had no date marking on them. Only a small notice on the beach showed the times of the exclusion zone. Several community members thought that the exclusion zone had come into place on Thursday, leading swimmers and kayakers to not enter the water beyond the buoys. 

A group of people with kayaks was by the water of Newcastle Harbour on Saturday morning when police arrived and threatened to charge them for breaching the peace for having the kayaks near the water close to where the exclusion zone began. A police officer pushed over one person from the back, causing him to fall over a kayak and hurt his elbow. The person had been speaking to police and not acting in an aggressive manner. The police officer did not have a name badge and did not name himself.

About 70 people were arrested on Sunday after crossing the buoys into the exclusion zone. Several people reported incidents of mistreatment by police. The police officers in carrying out the arrests did not have visible identification badges and largely had their faces covered by masks. Several people reported that police Zodiac boats bumped into their kayaks at speed when arresting them.

People arrested on Sunday reported incidents of mistreatment from police. One person sustained a cut during the arrest and was bleeding from it. Police did not respond to their requests for help and told other arrestees they were not allowed to touch the person to help them or they would be liable for further offences. One person who was diabetic reported that police took food that she had with her away and would not give it back despite her feeling unwell.

One person was swimming past the buoys and was given a direction to return to the beach by a police officer in a boat. The person said they would comply but expressed concern that they were too tired to swim back. As she was making her way back to the beach, the same police boat came near her in the water and she told the officer she did not feel safe with the boat so close and that it was making it hard to swim. The officer she had spoken to earlier then said she would be arrested for not complying with the direction. She was placed on the deck of the boat and was feeling faint and thirsty. She asked the police officer for water twice but each request was refused. She began to feel faint and like she would pass out. A police officer asked her if she needed a medic and the person responded she needed water. The police officer denied this request again. She asked for water two more times before a police officer gave her some. 

There was a high level of police presence around the camp from Wednesday. Several highway patrol police were stationed on Wharf St. One police car was pulling over cars going past from 4am on Sunday, pulling out behind from a car park with lights and sirens. Police lights and sirens could also be heard from 4am on Saturday. Police also deployed several mounted horse units to patrol around the edges of camp and at the beach. The horses left faeces along the pier and around camp.