Disrupt Burrup Hub artist Joana Partyka to plead Not Guilty in court this morning for defying a data access order from WA Police

Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigner and ceramic artist Joana Partyka will plead Not Guilty to one count of Fail to Obey a Data Access Order at Perth Magistrates Court this morning.

Disrupt Burrup Hub is demanding no more industry on the Burrup.

On January 19, Ms Partyka sprayed the Woodside logo in yellow paint on the colonial masterpiece ‘Down on His Luck’ at the Art Gallery of WA. The protest was subsequently endorsed by the descendants of ‘Down on His Luck’ painter Frederick McCubbin. 

On February 10, Partyka pled guilty to criminal damage at court in Perth and was sentenced to pay $7500 in fines and costs, labelled “absurdly excessive” by Human Rights Watch. Ms Partyka has already paid her fine and costs in full after the funds were raised by crowdfunding within 24 hours of her sentencing.

On February 24, Ms Partyka’s home was raided by six counter-terrorism police officers from the State Security Investigation Unit.

The warrant served to Ms Partyka listed the suspected offences as Criminal damage under Section 444 of the WA Criminal Code and Conspiracy to commit an indictable offence under Section 558(1) of the WA Criminal Code.

Police officers from the State Security Investigation Unit seized a mobile phone, a laptop and a notebook used for work purposes from Ms Partyka and took photographs of other personal items at her property.

On March 2, Ms Partyka was served with a Data Access Order by WA police ordering her to provide access to data stored on her laptop and phone within 7 days. Ms Partyka declined to comply with that request. (Photos, videos and copies of the Data Access Order served on Ms Partyka at her home by WA Police are attached.)

Ms Partyka’s barrister, Zarah Burgess of Burgess Criminal Lawyers, said:

“Local artist Joana Partyka has entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of disobeying a data access order, and we intend to fight this charge at trial. 

We have always maintained that Ms Partyka had a reasonable excuse to not give Police full access to her devices, particularly as they contain sensitive organisational information relating to the political party for which Ms Partyka works, as well as personal data of that party’s members, donors and supporters.

Despite being advised of this, WA Police provided us no assurances as to how that data would be handled and stored. Ms Partyka also faced potential breach of contract consequences due to the terms of her employment and her duty to protect that sensitive party information.

It is unfortunate that WA Police continue to push for the prosecution of my client in these circumstances, but also unsurprising given the shoulder rubbing that we have come to expect between the State government and Woodside.”

Joana Partyka, a ceramic artist and illustrator from Perth, said:

“WA Police’s raid on my home and subsequent data access order in pursuit of my personal information is anti-democratic and a gross infringement on my human rights.

Given the matter resulting from my protest action at the Art Gallery of WA has been dealt with in the judicial system, it is clear that these heavy-handed bullying tactics have the sole intention of intimating me and other climate activists.

Acts of dissent are central to a strong civil society, to our democracy, and to the political process. To seek to preemptively stifle the right to protest betrays the enormous scale of collusion between government, industry and the authorities in WA to protect powerful fossil fuel interests at all costs. 

I will not be intimidated by this unjustified, state-sanctioned overreach, and will continue to defend both our climate and my democratic rights.”

The Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia is known as Murujuga to traditional custodians, a deeply sacred place that contains the largest, oldest collection of Aboriginal rock art in the world. This priceless cultural treasure is currently nominated for UNESCO world heritage listing, but the sacred songlines and stories contained in these carvings are being damaged by emissions from the Burrup Hub and face total destruction within decades. 

Woodside's Burrup Hub is the biggest new fossil fuel project in Australia. It consists of the Scarborough and Browse Basin gas fields, the Pluto Project processing plant, and other linked liquified natural gas (LNG) and fertiliser plants on the Burrup Peninsula in WA’s remote north-west Pilbara region. The Burrup Hub is projected to produce more than 6 billion tons of CO2 by 2070, making it four times larger than the Adani coal mine and one of the biggest carbon bombs in the world.

On January 19, Joana Partyka, a ceramic artist and illustrator from Perth, sprayed the Woodside logo in yellow paint on the colonial masterpiece ‘Down on His Luck’ at the Art Gallery of WA. On Monday February 13, punk musician Trent Rojahn coated the Woodside building with a fire extinguisher full of high-pressure yellow paint and sprayed the slogan ‘Disrupt Burrup Hub’ across the glass at the entrance to Woodside’s corporate headquarters. On Tuesday February 21, graphic designer and mum of two Tahlia Stolarski sprayed the Woodside logo six times in yellow paint on the front doors of WA Parliament.

The Disrupt Burrup Hub campaign continues…