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

The northbound and southbound lanes were reopened about 7.30am, a NSW Transport Management Centre spokesman said.



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.




"If that draws attention to the fact DOCS 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.

The man has been taken by police to North Sydney police station and "charges were likely", police said in a statement.

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.

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."

A woman claiming to be a former girlfriend also phoned Triple M.

She told listeners she had been friends with Mr Fox for "quite some time" and was his girlfriend for a period during the two years he has spent battling various authorities.

"I was with him for a lot of the time when he was trying to get in contact with DOCS [the Department of Community Services] and the police, purely because his kids were in danger every day," the woman, who did not give her name, told the Grill Team.

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

Deputy Police Commissioner Dave Owen said DOCS was not involved with Mr Fox's case.

"The personal circumstances were very complex around this individual [but] it was not a DOCS matter," Deputy Commissioner Owens said.

The woman described Mr Fox as a "very straightforward kind of a guy who will do anything he can for his kids".

"They're the most important thing in his life and he's willing to do anything for them and obviously going up on the bridge, it's the next step that he felt he had to take," the woman said.

"He's the type of guy who really wouldn't care if he got charged, if he got put in jail, he wouldn't care," she continued.

"Even if he doesn't end up being able to get his kids [himself], he needs to get his kids out of their situation with their mother right now, because they are in danger every day that they are with her."

As for his claimed military background, Mr Fox told Triple M he had regularly climbed the bridge's southern pylons during training exercises "a few years back".

A woman named Dell, who said she was a friend and neighbour, said Mr Fox was a former special forces soldier who had served in Iraq.

Mr Fox made reference to serving overseas when asked whether he had tried going to the support group Dads in Distress.

"Blokes can get pretty proud, you don't necessarily reach out for help," he said on Triple M.

"I've been tarred by combat in over four continents so that's not the route that I've chosen but I do encourage others to go there."

The Department of Defence said that at this stage it was "not aware of his status" in the Australian Defence Force.

The woman also told the station he would not have intended to harm anyone during the protest.

"He's very, very, trained in what he does, and he knew exactly what he was doing and the last thing he would do would be endanger anybody else," she said.

Mr Fox said he left a note in his white truck asking police to close the bridge to ensure public safety.

"I do have un-lanyarded equipment with me which poses a hazard to any motorist underneath and I don't want anyone to get hurt in this," he said.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/harbour-bridg ... z1MDIZcvok