Popcorn protestors fight trespass charges with climate duress defence

Magistrate Jo Metcalf will announce her findings on March 8 following a two-day hearing for the trio who were arrested and escorted out of the National Australia Bank office in Mitchell Street on March 31, 2023.

Carpenter and domestic violence men's counsellor Bernard Tonkin, retired carbon economics lecturer and senior corporate strategy advisor Laura Levetan and veterinarian Dean Bridgfoot have pleaded not guilty to charges of trespass.

They had sought to file expert witness statements from four climate experts - Professor Lesley Hughes, Dr Debra Parkinson, Dr Susie Bourke and Dr Marty Branagan - but Ms Metcalf ultimately decided this evidence would not be admissible in court.

Previously - on Wednesday, March 6 - a packed courtroom with many of the activists' supporters witnessed footage of the arrest of the trio.

Mr Tonkin, Ms Levetan and Mr Bridgfoot were seen eating popcorn and standing peacefully within the NAB premises as they refused to leave despite being asked to do so by the Bendigo management, security and police.

Mr Tonkin told officers in the video that the protest represented "minimal disruption compared with the catastrophic disruption NAB is contributing to with its fossil fuel investments".

He said climate emergencies posed risks to emergency services including SES, CFA, police and ambulance staff, as well as being linked to homelessness, mental health problems and domestic violence.

The arresting officer - Sergeant Jamie Stubbins - conceded the protest was based on "strongly held beliefs" and told the trio, "if only others were this co-operative", during the interview.

He said on the footage that his interest in prosecuting the trio was "minimal".

The activists said they were not at the premises to hassle staff but were requesting a conversation with head office staff in Melbourne

They also intended to show a film highlighting NAB's actions in support of gas and coal projects - and they had handed out popcorn to customers in preparation.

They told the Bendigo Magistrates' Court one of their specific concerns had been NAB's financing of the Whitehaven Coal mine.

When they ultimately refused to leave the business despite being asked again, they were arrested and led out in handcuffs.

They exited the premises - speaking with multiple journalists and photographers in the footage - before the handcuffs were removed.

While the prosecution suggested that one element of the duress defence required that a threat of harm had been made by a person, the trio argued that climate disaster represented a threat akin to war.

The court heard the locals were not alone in protesting, with action at more than 60 NAB branches nationally to push for the bank to cease investments in coal.

Mr Tonkin, Ms Levetan and Mr Bridgfoot believe their use of the duress defence to argue their case, unrepresented, is the first time it has been used in an Australian environmental case.

They argue they had spent more than a year trying to speak to NAB staff about the organisation's funding of the expansion of new coal mines.

They have argued in court that their actions were the "only reasonable response" available to them to address the threat of climate harm, after they had already exhausted other peaceful and legal methods.

In July 2023, the NAB decided not to finance the Whitehaven Coal mine and three planned new coal mines.