‘Switch off Hazelwood’: Policing, Protest and a ‘Polluting Dinosaur’

Abstract

Traditionally, the policing of protest has been a vexed and problematic issue. The contemporary policing of climate change protests and camps challenges police capability both to facilitate such protests and to maintain control and order. The case study of the policing of the September 2009 protest against the Hazelwood coal-fuelled power station in the Latrobe Valley presents a microcosm of the dilemmas faced by both police and protesters in negotiating effective and peaceful protest. The eclectic and disparate nature of the climate change protests based on affinity groups affronts the police bureaucratic structure. This article argues that police–protester dialogue and negotiation, although limited by traditional suspicions, polarised organisational structures and diverse mindsets, are vital for the successful facilitation of peaceful protest, especially in relation to ongoing climate change dissent against coal-fired power plants.