Frustrated Father Protests Parental Alienation by Shutdown of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

A man describing himself as ex-military has been charged following a daring protest that closed the Sydney Harbour Bridge in both directions this morning.

The man, identified as Michael Fox, was charged with obstructing traffic, climbing or jumping from buildings or other structures, and climbing on bridges, a police spokeswoman said.

He was refused bail to appear at Central Local Court today, she said.

Father protestor on Parental Alienation – ‘Get my kids and other kids help’

Sydney_Harbour_Bridge-Father_Protestor_closes-Parental_Alienation_protest

Major delays … a man has been arrested after unfurling these two banners on the Harbour Bridge. Photo: Screen grab, Sky News

Barry_OFarrell_father_protestor_Parental_Alienation_Australia_protest

Barry O’Farrell orders urgent review.
NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell launches an investigation into how security at Sydney’s iconic Harbour Bridge was breached by a lone protestor Friday.

Father_Parental_Alienation_Protest_Sydney_Harbour_Bridge_13MAY2011

The “ex-military'” protester abseils down after staging his Harbour Bridge protest.

The protester speaks on his mobile phone after unfurling banners on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Father_Parental_Alienation_Protest_Sydney_backs_Traffic

Heavy traffic at the corner of Falcon and Miller streets in North Sydney.

Father_Parental_Alienation_Protest_Sydney_backs_Traffic2

Backed up … traffic on the Anzac Bridge as a result of the protest on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Photo: Daniel Adams

The NSW Premier, Barry O’Farrell, ordered an “urgent review” of security at the bridge, calling the incident “a major security breach”.

“We need to learn lessons from it,” he said.

“With the threat of terrorism still very real, my government will ensure everything possible is done to protect the security of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It’s the city’s icon and I regard any security breaches to be very serious.”

The review would look at security patrols, CCTV, physical protection barriers such as gates and fences and at criminal charges and penalties, Mr O’Farrell said in a statement.

A man describing himself as ex-military has been charged following a daring protest that closed the Sydney Harbour Bridge in both directions this morning.

The man, identified as Michael Fox, was charged with obstructing traffic, climbing or jumping from buildings or other structures, and climbing on bridges, a police spokeswoman said.

He was refused bail to appear at Central Local Court today, she said.

The NSW Premier, Barry O’Farrell, ordered an “urgent review” of security at the bridge, calling the incident “a major security breach”.

“We need to learn lessons from it,” he said.

The review would look at security patrols, CCTV, physical protection barriers such as gates and fences and at criminal charges and penalties, Mr O’Farrell said in a statement.

Banners unveiled

The protest started just after 5am when the man, who said his name was “Mick” or “Michael”, parked his truck near a pylon on the bridge and used ropes to climb the arch.

The 38-year-old protester unveiled two banners, reading “Kids First” and “Plz Help My Kids” at the top of the bridge.

He abseiled down to the road below, where he was met by police officers, just before 7am.

Commuters had been warned to expect major delays.

The northbound and southbound lanes were reopened about 7.30am, an RTA Traffic Management Centre spokesman said.

But as of 10.45am, road traffic and public transport services were “back to normal”, the Transport Management Centre said.

CityRail said all train services that were suspended earlier were now operating.

Buses were travelling on their regular routes and were now on schedule after delays of up to an hour.

Sydney Harbour Bridge protest
The protester abseils down the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Ferries were operating as normal, while the walkway and cycleway over the Harbour Bridge was open to pedestrians and cyclists.

A Fairfax journalist said there were rows of up to six people deep at Town Hall train station about 8.20am.

“Most people seem understandably frustrated,” he said.

A Transport Management Centre spokesman said earlier that traffic was “extremely heavy on all approaches to the Harbour Bridge”.

Earlier, there was heavy southbound traffic from the northern beaches, with queues back to Mosman.

Also, the southbound traffic on the Warringah and Gore Hill freeways had been jammed back to the Lane Cove Tunnel.

There were also delays on citybound lanes on Victoria Road in Rozelle for commuters travelling on to the Anzac Bridge, he said.

‘Get my kids and other kids help’

The protester spoke to a number of media outlets and identified himself as “ex-military”, AAP reported.

He said that he had equipment that could cause danger to commuters and so had left a note with his truck to close the bridge, the ABC reported.

He told the Nine Network: “If I have to stuff 4 million people around for one morning and that gets my kids and other kids help one day sooner [then] I have achieved my goal.

“If that draws attention to the fact DOCS [the Department of Community Services] is a failed department that’s letting our children down, then I have achieved my goal.

“This is a peaceful protest. It’s to give a voice to little people. Most fathers or mothers that are victims of this sort of stuff have not got anyone to turn to. At the end of the day I have got the ability to stage a peaceful demonstration and make people stand up and pay attention.”

He also spoke to 2GB radio host Alan Jones by mobile phone about 6.40am.

Jones said the man’s problems would be raised with DOCS or the minister in charge of children’s services if he came down from the bridge.

The man replied that he would come down.

The man also told Triple M radio: “There are systematic fails [sic] in both federal and state governments … the police and also the school systems that are letting our children down. And the children don’t have a voice.

“There is a major failure in the fact that there’s no one looking after our kids when parents separate and divorce.

“I’ve been pushed and pushed and pushed. I’m not just doing this for me, I’m doing this for my kids.”

He also spoke about “parental alienation syndrome”, which he described as a situation in which a child insults one parent without justification, often due to indoctrination by the other parent.

A Defence Department spokeswoman said that “at this stage, we are not aware of his status” in the military.

But a woman named Dell told Fairfax Radio the man was a former SAS soldier who had served in Iraq.

A spokesman for Pru Goward, the NSW Minister for Family and Community Services, said she would not be commenting on the incident as this case had not been raised with DOCS.

In March, a truck driver was arrested after a pile of dirt was dumped on the Harbour Bridge, closing two lanes, in an apparent protest.

Public reaction

Aaron Fuller, a commuter stuck in the traffic, said by email he hoped the man could help “a community break out of our apathetic ways”.

“Today, this man … has risked everything to bring to light his concerns. Sure, there are other ways, but apart from painting No War on the opera house, how else to get 4+million Sydney siders to pay attention.

“Let us not be concerned about how long it took us to get to work, but instead, let us support this guy, or at least, be curious enough to dig more into his claims, and demand as a collective, something is done.

“We can live with a traffic jam, not another horror story around a child being abused or neglected.”

Full inquiry: NSW Roads Minister

Earlier, the NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay told the ABC: “The man was driving a vehicle, pulled up beside the pylon, got out of his vehicle, took a ladder and put the ladder over the high fences that had been erected.

“Now we need to do a full inquiry of the effectiveness of the security, both of the patrol people and the rather ugly fences that are now on our beautiful bridge.”

Transport NSW Director General Les Wielinga said the bridge was closed at 5.14am, reopened at 7.30am and traffic was mostly back to normal by 8.50am.

The operation involved hundreds of police and RTA staff, Mr Wielinga said.

He also said he heard from Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian’s staff at 5.30am and spoke to Mr Gay three times between 5.30am and 6.30am.

The Premier also said that he wanted to ensure motorists did not have to face delays “because someone wants to use the bridge to wage some kind of protest”.

“The response from the police, RTA and other authorities today was good, but we need to learn from today’s incident and my government will do that,” Mr O’Farrell said.

– with Stephanie Gardiner, Georgina Robinson and AAP