Bridge protest disrupts Sydney commuters

Photo / AAP

Sydney's peak-hour traffic ground to a halt this morning after a man scaled the span of the Harbour Bridge in a protest.

Commuters were left stranded when the bridge was shut down by police. The man was later arrested without incident.

Police closed all traffic lanes, train and bus services were halted and pedestrians barred from crossing the bridge just after 5am as officers negotiated with the protester.

The man, who unfurled banners reading, "plz help my kids" and "kids first", reportedly had parked his truck near a pylon on the bridge and used ropes to climb the arch.

The man, who called himself Michael and told Triple M radio he was "ex-military", complained that both federal and state governments and authorities were failing children when parents separated.

"There are systematic fails 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," he said.

"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 spoke about "parental alienation syndrome", which, he said, happened when a child insults one parent without justification often due to indoctrination by the other parent.

He told the Nine Network he was staging a "peaceful protest" against the Department of Community Services (DOCS).

"If I have to stuff four million people around for one morning and that gets my kids and other kids help one day sooner, I have achieved my goal," he said, adding that he had climbing gear and would rappel himself to the bottom of the bridge at the end of his protest.

"This is a peaceful protest. It's to give a voice to little people," he said.

"Most fathers or mothers that are victims of this sort of stuff have not got anyone to turn to."

The man was arrested and taken into custody at North Sydney police station.

A friend and neighbour of the man, "Dell", told AAP Michael had three children and was desperate to see them.

"I've seen him with his little kids and they love him to bits," she told Fairfax Radio.

"My grandchildren play with them and he has had dramas and he's been denied to see his children since January.

"I hate seeing him portrayed as this idiot because he loves those kids and they've had them in protective custody and they didn't even tell him where they were and I've seen him going berserk."

"Dell" also said Michael was a former SAS soldier who had served in Iraq.

Train services across the bridge resumed about 7am and the road was opened at 7.30am.

Transport NSW said that traffic was flowing smoothly again on roads leading to the bridge but commuters using public transport were still experiencing delays.

- AAP