Bega Valley woman Hannah Doole was among more than 70 people arrested during a massive protest in Brisbane calling for action on climate change.
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A crowd of about 1000 gathered in the city's CBD on Tuesday, August 6, for the Extinction Rebellion-organised protest demanding the federal government take action on what they say is the increasingly urgent need to reduce global emissions.
No stranger to direct action, this is the second time Ms Doole has been arrested.
Last year she was charged after she blocked coal trains from reaching a Queensland port owned by Indian mining giant Adani.
In response to that action, she is now being sued for $75,000 in a civil case.
Speaking to Australian Community Media on Friday after she had been released from jail, the 19-year-old said the necessity of the movement meant being arrested was not a one-time thing to her.
"It's going to be a constant fight. It's all about momentum building, people that are invested in it have to keep on being invested if we are going to get anywhere," she said.
Ms Doole was locked up for 27 hours as she was among 21 protesters who refused to pay bail. She pleaded guilty to the charge of pedestrian obstructing traffic and was fined $300, but has no regrets over the incident.
"Looking back through history, disruption of highly-populated areas has always been a force for change, for instance through the civil rights movement or the suffragette movement," the Doctor George Mountain resident said.
"It may somehow seem counter-intuitive disrupting the everyday person rather than a corporation.
"But we have to force this issue to the forefront so it can't be ignored."
Meanwhile, Ms Doole said a civil suit had been launched against her by rail freight operator Aurizon suing for $75,000 over her protest blocking trains from reaching Adani's port last November.
Along with four other protesters, who performed similar protests and have called themselves the "Aurizon Five", she is being represented pro-bono by a lawyer and said she does not have the money to pay for the suit's claim.
"So it isn't quite as effective a threat for someone that has no money than someone that does," she said.
"It's a classic example of a big corporation attacking the people who are standing up to them."
She was more concerned about receiving an injunction that would stop her trespassing on Aurizon land under the threat of imprisonment - a move that would prevent her from going on the company's rail lines to undertake direct action again.
A spokesperson from Aurizon said the company recognised everyone had a right to express their opinion, but not when it was done illegally and came at the expense of safety.
"Aurizon makes no apology for pursuing all legal options to protect the safety of our people and the first responders and the integrity and efficiency of our operations," they said.
"On-track protests are now one of the primary safety concerns for Aurizon and in particular for more than 1000 of Aurizon's frontline train drivers in Queensland.
"We don't want our drivers bearing the emotional burden for something that could have been prevented, and potentially being so traumatised they can't return to work or drive a train again."