Statement from Jesse Noakes regarding Woodside counter-terror sting and the ABC
Released from WA Police custody last night, Disrupt Burrup Hub media advisor Jesse Noakes issued the following statement:
“As the campaign’s primary media contact, I wish to address several points falsely propagated by Woodside and WA Police during the two days I spent in police custody without access to any communications.”
“There was - of course - never any intent to enter Ms O’Neill’s home during the peaceful protest attempted on August 1. The courageous nineteen year old campaigner who was ambushed by more than a dozen counter-terror police on Tuesday morning had a spray can and some water balloons outside the front of Ms O'Neill's house. The only intent police have alleged at any stage was to paint a message about her future and then blockade the Woodside CEO’s front gate. Previous reconnaissance had confirmed there is a rear exit to the property that was deliberately left accessible to enable Ms O’Neill to leave the premises if she wished to. At no point was the safety or security of Ms O’Neill or anyone else under threat from one nineteen year old with a spray can. Any intimidation felt can perhaps be more reasonably attributed to the presence of more than a dozen counter-terror police camped out overnight inside Ms O’Neill’s home.”
“I did not confirm the location of the Disrupt Burrup Hub protest to the ABC until after 6am on Tuesday August 1. I was not at or near the City Beach location of the protest at any point the previous evening, and thus nor was the ABC. Instead, we had been filming interviews with Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigners at the Fremantle home of one of those campaigners on Monday afternoon and evening. The protest on Tuesday morning was organised by Disrupt Burrup Hub without any prior involvement or input from the ABC. Indeed, the only collusion in relation to Tuesday’s protest appears to be between Woodside and WA Police, who were camped out overnight at Meg O’Neill’s and had clearly been in communication with Woodside for some time prior to setting a trap for a nineteen-year-old campaigner.”
"By sweeping me up in this massive police operation, Woodside and the WA government suggested this was something other than an entirely peaceful protest outside Ms O'Neill's home to highlight the threat Woodside’s Burrup Hub poses to our only home, the future of planet earth. While Woodside threatens to take away the homes of Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigners with Supreme Court lawsuits, Disrupt Burrup Hub continues to double down in the fight to prevent 6 billion tonnes of CO2 from Woodside’s Burrup Hub.”
ENDS
