{"id":1200886,"date":"2023-09-05T11:19:58","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T11:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/?p=143741"},"modified":"2023-09-05T11:19:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T11:19:58","slug":"criminalising-activism-woodside-protest-and-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/09\/05\/criminalising-activism-woodside-protest-and-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Criminalising Activism: Woodside, Protest and Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

On August 1, protesters against the Burrup Hub expansion in Western Australia, a project of one of Australia\u2019s most ruthless fossil fuel companies, took to the Perth home of its CEO, Meg O\u2019Neill.\u00a0 The CEO of Woodside was not impressed.\u00a0 In fact, she seemed rather distressed.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re a member of the business community, in professional athletics, or just a school kid\u2026 everybody has the right to feel safe in their own home,\u201d she subsequently told<\/a> a breakfast event.\u00a0 \u201cWhat happened Tuesday has left me shaken, fearful, and distressed.\u201d\u00a0 In distress, opportunities for revenge grow.<\/p>\n

Members of the Disrupt Burrup Hub have had Woodside in their sights for some time.\u00a0 Their primary object of concern: the Burrup Hub project<\/a>, consisting of the Scarborough and Browse Basin gas fields, the Pluto Project processing plant, and various linked liquified gas and fertiliser plans found on the Burrup Peninsula in the Pilbara region.<\/p>\n

On this occasion, the group\u2019s practical efforts proved stillborn.\u00a0 One of the protestors, Matilda Lane-Rose, found herself facing over a dozen counter-terrorist police lying in wait on O\u2019Neill\u2019s property.\u00a0 Lane-Rose, along with three other members of Disrupt Burrup Hub, were charged with conspiracy to commit and indictable offence.<\/p>\n

The howl of indignation has been eardrum splitting.\u00a0 Mark Abbotsford, Woodside\u2019s executive vice president, stated<\/a> that there was a line, and it had been crossed.\u00a0 Former Greens MP, Alison Xamon, questioned<\/a> the wisdom of the protest, suggesting that there \u201cis a sense that people\u2019s homes should almost be off limits.\u201d\u00a0 The media imperium owned by the mogul Kerry Stokes expressed fury at the antics of \u201ceco fanatics\u201d.<\/p>\n

Seven West Media also took the national broadcaster to task for having covered the actual protest as part of an intended program for Four Corners<\/em>. Their journalists, for one, suggested that the ABC had overstepped, despite those from their own stable having done precisely the same thing on two previous occasions.\u00a0 In 2021, for instance, Channel Seven found itself covering<\/a> a protest that blockaded Woodside\u2019s facilities on Burrup. They even got live crosses into the market ready for breakfast television.<\/p>\n

The Western Australian Premier, whose electability in that state is determined by fossil-fuellers, was also critical of the ABC.\u00a0 In a letter to its chair, Ita Buttrose, Roger Cook wished<\/a> to \u201cexpress [his] serious concerns about the ABC crew\u2019s actions and urge you organisation to reflect on the role it played in this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prosecuting police, holding their side of the bargain protecting a citizen of such sweet purity as O\u2019Neill, painted a picture of sinister domestic insurgency at her doorstep.\u00a0 In the Perth Magistrates Court, WA Police prosecutor Kim Briggs had stern words<\/a> for two of the protestors seeking bail, Jesse Noakes and Gerard Mazza.\u00a0 \u201cThey prepared their actions in detail including surveillance and reconnaissance.\u201d\u00a0 They also \u201cparked near the residence and Ms O\u2019Neill\u2019s departure time was worked out to maximise disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

The intention of such conduct, Briggs alleged, \u201cwas to damage the property using spray paint and lock themselves [to a gate] with a D-lock to hinder the ability of Ms O\u2019Neill to leave the property.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever the immediate merits of the publicity seeking exercise by the Disrupt Burrup Hubbers, Woodside had a devilish card to play.\u00a0 After all, anything that might divert, or at least stifle interest in an expansionist agenda that promises to produce billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2070, would prove inevitable.<\/p>\n

Despite already having protective bail conditions in place that would prevent the protesters from approaching O\u2019Neill in any capacity, let alone any Woodside property, the company wanted more.\u00a0 A legal remedy to effectively extinguish speech and coverage on the executive, the company and the protest, would be sought.\u00a0 The target, in other words, was publicity itself.\u00a0 In a novel, even shocking way, Woodside sought Violence Restraining Orders against the protestors.\u00a0 A VRO is intended<\/a> to restrain a person from any one of the following: committing an act of abuse, breaching the peace, causing fear, damaging property or intimidating another person.<\/p>\n

Through August, VROs were served on Lane-Rose, Emil Davey and Gerard Mazza.\u00a0 The relevant clauses note<\/a> that the campaigners are not to \u201cmake any reference to [the Woodside CEO] by any electronic means, including by using the internet and any social media application\u201d or \u201ccause or allow any other person to engage in conduct of the type referred to in any of the preceding paragraphs of this order on your behalf\u201d.<\/p>\n

This could only be taken for what it was: a violent effort to stomp on speech, especially of the critical sort.\u00a0 Barrister Zarah Burgess, representing Disrupt Burrup Hub, described<\/a> it as \u201ca transparent and extraordinary attempt to gag climate campaigners from speaking about Woodside\u2019s fossil fuel expansion.\u201d\u00a0 Never before had she seen the VRO system used in such a manner.\u00a0 \u201cThe intended purpose for granting VROs is to protect people, predominantly women and children, usually in the context of family violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

A dismayed Alice Drury of the Human Rights Law Centre was blunt<\/a>: \u201cWoodside and the multibillion dollar fossil fuel industry are trying to send a chilling message to anyone who dares to speak out: you will be intimidated and silenced.\u201d<\/p>\n

This brutal reaction from O\u2019Neill and company says everything about Woodside and its place in Australian society.\u00a0 It advertises itself<\/a> as \u201ca global energy company, founded in Australia with a spirit of innovation and determination.\u201d\u00a0 And, just in case you forget, the company provides \u201cenergy the world needs to heat and cool homes, keep lights on and enable industry.\u201d\u00a0 To that, can be added another jotting: it will seek to prevent, and even criminalise free speech and protest on the environment if permitted. The legal authorities in Western Australia, at least pending appeal, agree.<\/p>\n

This post was originally published on Dissident Voice<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On August 1, protesters against the Burrup Hub expansion in Western Australia, a project of one of Australia\u2019s most ruthless fossil fuel companies, took to the Perth home of its CEO, Meg O\u2019Neill.\u00a0 The CEO of Woodside was not impressed.\u00a0 In fact, she seemed rather distressed.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re a member of the [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,478,2828,67927,5251],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200886"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1200886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1200893,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200886\/revisions\/1200893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1200886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1200886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1200886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}