More than 500 protesters are expected to arrive in the city to prepare tactics and water-craft, which will be part of a flotilla expected to take to the harbour on Sunday.  

Among their ranks will be celebrities Ash Grunwald, Rob Hirst of Midnight Oil and Nattali Rize of Blue King Brown, along with Aboriginal elders from the Hunter and interstate.

The Climate Guardian Angels will also be there. Head Angel Dr Liz Conor said the angels were giving up Mother’s Day to be part of the action. 

“Because stopping coal exports through this port and demanding urgent action is part of our duty of care to our children,” Dr Conor said. 

The stated objective of Break Free is to raise awareness for the need to transition from fossil fuels to 100 per cent renewable energy in order to reduce the impact of climate change. Horseshoe Beach will see activities from 11am, including a welcome to country smoking ceremony, performances by Grunwald, Rize, Hirst and Uncle Bunna Lawrie. 

The Pacific Climate Warriors will be on the harbour in traditional canoes from Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa, Tokelau and the Solomon Islands. 

“At COP21 Environment minister Greg Hunt signed an agreement that the world would work to limit global warming to a minimum of two degrees. But that’s too much for the Pacific,” said Zane Sikulu, of 350 Pacific  

“Global warming needs to stay below 1.5 degrees for island like Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tokelau and the Marshall Islands to have a fighting chance to preserve some of their Islands, heritage, culture and livelihood.

“That’s why we are coming back to Newcastle.”