By Rebecca Peppiatt
A group of climate protesters allegedly stalked the home of Woodside boss Meg O’Neill in the lead up to their arrest on Tuesday, with some members of the group planning to throw paint at the house and chain themselves to it, a court has been told.
Jesse Noakes, 34, and Gerard Mazza, 31, appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday after being charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and spending the night at the police watchhouse.
Gerard Mazza, 31, and Jesse Noakes, 34, appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday after being arrested outside Woodside boss Meg O’Neill’s house on Tuesday morning.
During the pair’s bail application, WA Police prosecutor Kim Briggs claimed investigators had CCTV footage of the men, and a co-accused, “surveilling” the City Beach property in the days leading up to the arrest.
“They prepared their actions in detail including surveillance and reconnaissance,” he said.
“They parked near the residence and Ms O’Neill’s departure time was worked out to maximise disruption.”
Briggs said the protesters, who are part of an activist group called Disrupt Burrup Hub, planned to damage the property and stop the Woodside boss from leaving.
“The intention of the group was to damage the property using spray paint and lock themselves [to a gate] with a D-lock to hinder the ability of Ms O’Neill to leave the property,” he said.
Any plot by the group was foiled, with police lying in wait inside O’Neill’s house to apprehend the men, who allegedly arrived at 6.45am holding spray cans. An ABC camera crew was also there.
Prosecutors staunchly opposed bail for both men, alleging their protesting activities had escalated.
They also asked for a restraining order to be taken out to protect O’Neill from the pair.
“The impact on Ms O’Neill and her family cannot be understated,” Briggs said.
But defence lawyers for the pair argued there was no evidence showing a conspiracy was committed and instead argued at the very most the charges should be downgraded to trespassing.
Magistrate Sandra De Maio said she felt there was a case for conviction and raised concerns over the group’s escalating behaviour.
“There is room for reasonable inference to be drawn that you and your associates intended to damage Ms O’Neill’s property,” she said.
“You escalated the nature of your protests by now aiming for someone’s residence. That’s their personal residence where they are entitled to feel safe.
“Your alleged actions compromised that feeling of safety and security.”
She ordered the pair be released on bail with a $10,000 surety. No restraining order was granted, but the bail conditions included not going within 50 metres of O’Neill or within 100 metres of her home or work.
The court also heard Noakes and Mazza were already on bail for other charges related to a protest at Woodside’s annual general meeting earlier this year.
Other members of the Disrupt Burrup Hub group have also been charged by police after allegedly releasing a “stench” gas inside its Perth headquarters, forcing the evacuation of all staff.
Last week, Woodside lawyers threatened to sue the protesters for financial loss over the incident.
On Wednesday, West Australian Premier Roger Cook issued a “please-explain” to ABC management over the presence of a camera crew at O’Neill’s house when Noakes, Mazza and their co-accused were arrested.
Cook vowed to reach out to ABC senior management to find out why its crew was present at the protest, what they knew about it, and why they didn’t alert the police ahead of time.
“They clearly had prior notice and understood that these people were going to the CEO’s house, her personal home, to take this action, so I’ll be seeking answers from the ABC today,” he said.
“I’ll be contacting senior management to understand what it is that they knew and why they didn’t take action to inform the police before this activity took place.”
Cook said “anyone would be appalled” if such protest action was known about and not acted upon.
A statement from the public broadcaster said the crew was from its Four Corners investigations team which had received a tip to head to the address, but denied they had any knowledge of what the protest was about or that they were colluding with the activists.
“A Four Corners team attended the protest action to gather material for a potential report later this year,” the statement said.
“They had no knowledge of what action was going to occur there. When they arrived the police were already in attendance, in numbers.”
with Hamish Hastie
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