A retired environmental scientist who worked at CSIRO and the ANU was one of four people remanded in custody after they allegedly graffitied walls at the Lodge and Parliament House where a pram was also set fire.
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Five of eight people arrested in relation to charges from the Extinction Rebellion protests on Tuesday morning fronted the ACT Magistrates Court charged with intentionally causing damage to property while taking part in an assembly.
Four did not apply for bail while one was granted it.
In a statement, police said activists also allegedly glued the pram and themselves to the forecourt outside Parliament before the Australian Federal Police intervened.
Members are also accused of spraying the message "climate duty of care" on concrete outside Parliament and on a fence outside The Lodge before any arrests were made.
AFP search and rescue personnel were called in to help remove several people glued to the ground.
Three men and two women were subsequently arrested at Parliament House and three men were arrested at The Lodge.
Extinction Rebellion member Bonnie said the demonstration followed the federal government holding fast on its decision not to commit it a net-zero emissions target for Australia, the dire consequences highlighted in the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.
Published on Monday, the report warned "immediate, rapid and large-scale" cuts to greenhouse gas emissions were required to contain global warming.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed legal action would be taken against the protesters, a measure he claimed most Australians would expect regardless of their view on climate change.
"The Australian way is not what we have seen with the vandalism in our capital today," he said.
"I don't associate in any way, shape, or form that foolishness with the good-hearted nature of Australians who care deeply about this issue, as I do.
"They have no part with that foolishness today, any more than we have seen in other selfish protests around this country."
Following the release of the IPCC report, Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor confirmed the Coalition's goal remained net-zero emissions preferably by 2050.
"The pathway to do so [cut emissions] is technology, not taxes, not defacing buildings," Mr Taylor said following the Extinction Rebellion protest.
A Department of Parliamentary Services spokesperson said security had been in place to prevent protesters entering the building.
The spokesperson said Parliament House protests were a regular thing and increased security was unlikely to be considered following the Extinction Rebellion activation.
"While the Australian Federal Police manages security outside of Parliament House, the AFP and the Department of Parliamentary Services work closely to maintain building and precinct security," the spokesperson said.
Authorities were still determining the total cost of the damage to property on Tuesday afternoon.
The ACT branch of the climate rebels have staged several activations in Canberra over the past week, including a protest on the corner of Marcus Clarke and Barry Drive which disrupted morning traffic in Civic.
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