"I ask that you leave the site."
"We're not going to leave the site"
"You're causing an occupation health and safety issue."
"That's the point."

On September 17, climate change became the subject of direct action, as 20 activists walked onto the construction site of a gas-fired power station in Somerton, in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. The Friends of the Earth activists hoped to stop work long enough to talk to the workers, by entering the site without hard hats and so making it unsafe for work to continue. Much to the consternation of management, they succeeded.

The 30 or so construction workers on the site downed tools for half an hour while spokesperson Tristy Fairfield explained climate justice from the back of a ute. Burning gas to create electricity, she explained, is a very ineffficient use of natural gas, while the power station would exist purely to meet peak demand in summer, when people turn on their air conditioners. "This project…would entrench Victoria's position as the worst fossil fuel greenhouse polluter in Australia," she stated. "The State Government cannot continue with an ad hoc approach to energy management. Peak demand can easily be met through responsible use."
Protesters have since succeeded in stopping work several times, and plan to continue.

The project is already suffering from union activity, with transport workers refusing to move a turbine from the docks and the Electrical Trades Union putting on green bans, in an attempt to protect the climate. Even members of the National Workers' Union, who work at the Dunlop factory next to the site, have offered use of their coffee supply and toilets.

The site visit was the kick off of a blockade of the power station and its gas pipeline, being lead by Friends of the Earth and Friends of the Merri Creek, in conjunction with other community groups. Friends of the Merri Creek are concentrating particularly on power station's gas pipeline, which is set to cross the creek and destroy sections of the endangered growling grass frog's habitat. The Federal Government has informed the pipeline construction company, GPU Gasnet, that the pipeline must be completed by mid-October, so as not to interfere with the grass frog's breeding season. Protesters hope to maintain a presence at the site until then, and hence to prevent the completion of the power station before this year's summer demand.

After much talk about climate change in recent years, the Somerton blockade, along with Greenpeace's oil shale actions, could be heralding in an era of climate direct action.