By Hamish Hastie
West Australian Premier Roger Cook has issued a “please explain” to ABC management over the presence of a film crew at a climate protest outside Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill’s home on Tuesday morning.
Cook said he would reach out to ABC senior management about why its crew was present at the protest, what they knew about it and why they didn’t alert the police ahead of time.
WA Premier Roger Cook.Credit: Trevor Collens
“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.”
WA Police said state security investigation group officers attended the City Beach home O’Neill shares with her wife and daughter at about 6.45am on Tuesday and arrested three people, including a 19-year-old woman and well-known WA climate activists Jesse Noakes and Gerard Mazza.
The three protesters, along with a fourth, a 21-year-old man, were charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.
An ABC news crew was also present.
Cook said “anyone would be appalled” if such protest action was known about and not acted upon.
“I’m not a journalist, and I understand that all journalists are under pressure because they want to get to the bottom of the matter, but it is simply not good enough if what has taken place is that there was a conspiracy to withhold details of this unlawful action from the police, given that they knew this action was going to involve going to someone’s private home,” he said.
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.
“The ABC team remained on public land observing what was happening and getting some vision, as journalists do. They at no time went on to private property or had any involvement in what was happening, the ABC team in no way colluded with the activists.”
The premier’s comments echoed questions from WA Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston over how the ABC knew protesters would be at O’Neill’s home.
“I’d like to hear the ABC CEO explain if the ABC had prior knowledge of this violence,” he tweeted.
Cook reached out to O’Neill to express his outrage at the incident and offer sympathy to her family.
He told media the protesters were “extremists seeking to terrorise the CEO of Woodside and her family in their home”.
“These actions are just unacceptable and not on, and they must stop,” he said.
“I think everyone respects people’s right to protest, regardless of the issue, but the idea that you can go and terrorise someone in their home just because they’re doing their job is absolutely unacceptable.”
On Tuesday, O’Neill thanked police for their response.
“This was not a ‘harmless’ protest,” she said.
“Such acts by extremists should be condemned by anyone who respects the law and believes people should be safe to go about their business at home and at work.”
A spokesman for climate activist group Disrupt Burrup Hub described the protest as peaceful and said police were waiting at O’Neill’s property when the group arrived.
“[The] events clearly demonstrate that WA Police are acting as private security for Woodside, standing between the powerful CEO of a multibillion-dollar fossil fuel corporation and a 19-year-old terrified for her future,” he said.
“It is deeply troubling that a dozen WA Police officers were present ahead of an unpublicised, peaceful climate protest. Are they spying on protesters?
“While Disrupt Burrup Hub was prevented from carrying out a peaceful action today by heavy-handed, preemptive policing, it was not a failure. In fact, it shows just how successful our campaign is – how big a threat it poses to Woodside, and how desperate they are to maintain the status quo.”
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