Media release: Woodside CEO issues restraining orders against Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigners gagging them from speaking to media, legal objection immediately filed
Woodside’s CEO has issued a Violence Restraining Order against at least three Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigners that prevents them from referring publicly to the Woodside CEO or the Disrupt Burrup Hub protest outside her house.
On August 1, Matilda Lane-Rose (19) was detained by more than a dozen counter-terror police camped inside the Woodside CEO’s property before she could commence her protest outside the house, with a yellow spray paint can and some water balloons found nearby. Ms Lane-Rose and three others were charged with Conspiracy to Commit an Indictable Offence.
The VROs, which were applied for on Friday August 18 and first served on Ms Lane-Rose on Saturday morning and in subsequent days to Emil Davey (21) and Gerard Mazza (31), come despite bail conditions already applied to the campaigners in court that prevent them from approaching the Woodside CEO or Woodside property. It is understood a fourth VRO has been filed but not yet served.
The only clauses of the VRO not already covered by those court ordered bail conditions state the campaigners must not “make any reference to [the Woodside CEO] by any electronic means, including by using the internet and any social media application” or “cause 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”.
This move is a clear attempt by Woodside to silence the Disrupt Burrup Hub campaign from effectively drawing attention to the dangerous fossil fuel expansion of Woodside’s Burrup Hub, and is also clearly intended to interfere with an ABC Four Corners episode that captured footage of the entire police operation at the house of the Woodside CEO.
The Four Corners program, still in production, prominently features Ms Lane-Rose, Mr Mazza and other members of Disrupt Burrup Hub, reinforcing that this is a clear attempt by Woodside to interfere with the ABC’s capacity to report that story.
On Tuesday 22 August, Disrupt Burrup Hub barrister Zarah Burgess filed an objection in the Perth Magistrates Court requesting an immediate hearing to challenge the interim VROs, which may require the Woodside CEO to appear in court under cross-examination.
Barrister Zarah Burgess from Burgess Criminal Lawyers said:
“This is a transparent and extraordinary attempt to gag climate campaigners from speaking out about Woodside’s fossil expansion These activists already have protective bail conditions in place preventing them from approaching the Woodside CEO or any Woodside property, so the only purpose of this VRO is to prevent Matilda from speaking publicly about the Woodside CEO or her role in the Disrupt Burrup Hub protest outside her house.
The impact of the clause prohibiting Matilda from making ‘any reference’ to Ms O’Neill precludes them from even having non-offensive, critical discourse around the role of the Woodside CEO. The fact that this includes ‘by any electronic means’ (including Internet and social media) means that any videos, posts or news articles that are produced by electronic means - which is most media these days - are strictly prohibited under this order.
It also means that if any other person does the above on Matilda’s behalf - including the electronic broadcast of a news story referencing the Woodside CEO, for example - Matilda may also be in breach of the VRO. If this happens, she can be charged with further offences and risks imprisonment.
I have never before seen a VRO used in this way. The intended purpose for granting VROs is to protect people, predominantly women and children, usually in the context of family violence. Misusing this system takes precious Court resources away from vulnerable people with a legitimate fear of violence. The same applies to punitive bail conditions, data access orders, police forensic procedures and police use of force - the boundaries just keep moving further and further away from the original intention of these powers.
It is also a clear attempt to interfere with media coverage of Woodside’s Burrup Hub and the Disrupt Burrup Hub campaign, including with the ABC’s coverage as Matilda is central to a Four Corners program currently in production. I think Australians will see through this clear attempt to try and silence and censor their ABC.'“
Background:
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 has previously been responsible for the destruction of around 5,000 sacred rock art sites in the construction of earlier parts of its Burrup Hub mega-project, including the Karratha Gas Plant and Pluto LNG processing facility.
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. The protest was subsequently endorsed by most descendants of ‘Down on His Luck’ painter Frederick McCubbin. On 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.
On April 28, Gerard Mazza and Tahlia Stolarski were charged with Aggravated Burglary attempting to evacuate the Woodside AGM in Perth using harmless stench gas and smoke flares. On May 3, environmental activist Violet CoCo, the first person jailed under repressive new police powers legislation in New South Wales, sprayed the Woodside logo in yellow paint on the front of the Perth Police Centre in protest at the escalating police crackdown on climate protest in Western Australia. On May 20, musician and student Emil Davey invaded the pitch of an AFL game during Indigenous Round, sponsored by Woodside, disrupting play for several minutes with a large flag reading Disrupt Burrup Hub.
On June 1, Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigner Kristen Morrissey safely evacuated Woodside’s corporate headquarters in Perth using harmless, non-toxic ‘stench gas’ to simulate a hoax gas leak, successfully evacuating several thousand Woodside workers and stopping work for the day. On July 25, Woodside threatened to sue Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigners in the Supreme Court of Western Australia for loss of earnings and brand damage after the safe, successful evacuation of Woodside’s corporate headquarters in a hoax gas leak on June 1.
