CLAIMS police were heavy-handed in response to the weekend's Rising Tide protest are "a load of garbage", NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley says.
Ms Catley called protesters "ridiculous" and "reckless", defending the police who she said were just doing their jobs.
"They had complete disregard for the law they have disregard for what the police are asking them to do, and they make the police out to be the bad guys," she said on ABC Radio Newcastle.
"Nothing could be further from the truth. The police are doing their job. It's so selfish, don't you think it's arrogant?"
Rising Tide spokesman Zack Schofield they didn't believe policing the protest away was "the right move".
"The NSW government should have been telling us where the money is to support coal workers to transition... that's how they should have responded to our protest."
"We encourage the state government to take that really seriously and start listening to our demands rather than policing us into silence."
A total of 141 people were arrested by police over the course of the weekend, with further charges possible after Rising Tide protesters locked themselves to coal-loading machinery on Monday morning.
Ms Catley said she would be surprised if the protesters would be allowed back into the town.
"Nothing has been gained except a bad reputation for Rising Tide here," she said.
Ms Catley said there were a number of "unsafe practices" witnessed during the protest, including a collision with a police jet ski.
"We had two women who were arrested aboard a ship off Newcastle coastline, who climbed up the side of a ship," she said.
"I mean, this is just ridiculous. It is so unsafe, and it's reckless.
"We've seen a jet ski hit deliberately hit by a boat.
"Police have one objective. That is to keep the community safe".
The Minister said the right to free speech does not give you the right to be unsafe and "lawless".
"I can't, for the life of me, understand why these people don't understand how dangerous it is to get in a shipping lane when a large ship is entering through."
The minister described the moment she was told by a commanding officer that people had breached the exclusion zone over the phone.
"She said, 'I've got to go Minister, people have just broken the line, and they're heading towards the ship'.
"The fear for the police for those people's lives is extraordinary."
She said she would also be looking into an alleged stabbing incident in the protest campground.
In contrast, representatives from Rising Tide and legal group Climate Defenders Australia said that interactions with police were widely positive.
"In our experience the overwhelming vibe is that people have had reasonably positive interaction from police, They've been treated respectfully and well," CDA legal director Josh Pallas said.
"The right to assemble in public is fundamental to our democratic system of government and it's important to assemble in public, to talk about politics and that is what our clients do."
Mr Schofield agreed that police were just doing their jobs and claimed protestors were allowed by police to "take the channel".
"There were at least 100 people in the channel who didn't get arrested," he said.
"We understand that they allowed us to take the channel."
He said that interaction between police and those that had been arrested had been generally positive, which showed they recognised that Rising Tide has the support of the community.
"They are reluctant to be seen as cracking down," he said.
Ms Catley also defended her government's actions on climate change, saying that they were setting up Newcastle to become "the largest" renewables port in the world.
"[It] will have coming through it, all of the infrastructure for renewable energy and we are putting in place the foundations to accommodate that. We are forward thinking."
Ms Catley took a dig at protesters who breached the exclusion zone and faced an $1100 fine.
"When we talk about cost of living, then certainly these people obviously don't have a cost-of-living problem. If you're prepared to put at risk that amount of money."
Mr Schofield said it was "hypocritical for Yasmin Catley to be talking about the cost-of-living crisis.
"Yasmin Catley's government in a cost of living crisis is making housing prices more expensive," he said.
"The government has fought pay rises for nurses, has fought pay rises for psychiatrists and has fought pay rises for public transport workers.
"In fact, the only people that have been given pay rises by her government are the police."
Mr Schofield said Rising Tide would be fundraising to assist those who may be facing fines.
The "people's blockade" managed to disrupt coal ship movements across the weekend, but several vessels also made it safely through the harbour.
The Cemtex Leader coal ship arrived on Sunday after being delayed on Saturday. The Ragnar coal ship was due to arrive on Monday after its planned arrival on Sunday was aborted.