Two campaigners face court charged with Aggravated Burglary with Intent for attempting to shut down Woodside AGM over destruction of sacred rock art sites and climate
8.00am Saturday AWST - Perth
Two people face a Magistrates Court in Perth this morning for allegedly attempting to evacuate the Woodside AGM at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre yesterday using harmless, non-toxic 'stench gas' and legal yellow smoke flares.
They are accused of Aggravated Burglary with Intent to Commit an Assault.
Gerard Mazza, an Aboriginal community media producer and former school teacher, was allegedly found in possession of stench gas, a harmless, non-toxic substance typically used on mine sites to sound the alarm about an emergency.
Tahlia Stolarski, a graphic designer and mother of two young children, was allegedly found in possession of yellow smoke flares, legally available to purchase and deploy, that represent the toxic emissions from Woodside's Burrup Hub.
Both were allegedly apprehended inside legally accessible areas of the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Journalist and campaigner Jesse Noakes, who published a story this weekend about WA authorities' crackdown on climate activism using raids by counter-terror police, subsequently had his office raided by the State Security Investigations Group, was detained for eight hours and released without charge.
Yesterday, Perdaman removed sacred Murujuga rock art sites to build a fertiliser plant fed by Woodside’s gas, just as Woodside themselves previously destroyed thousands of sacred sites to create earlier parts of the Burrup Hub.
The Disrupt Burrup Hub campaign demands no more industry on or off the Burrup with the focus now shifting to Woodside’s massive Browse Basin gas field 900km off the north-west coast of Western Australia.
If Woodside are allowed to exploit the Browse Basin gas field, which was on the agenda at yesterday's AGM and is due to be determined this year, Browse will become the single largest addition to the Burrup Hub as it generates 6 billion tons of CO2 over its lifetime - significantly shortening all of ours.
Zarah Burgess, barrister for the accused, said: "It is absurd that police are seeking to remand in custody two ordinary, upstanding citizens on these charges. Gerard previously taught at some of Perth's most prestigious schools and now produces news for First Nations people in regional and remote communities. Tahlia is a mother of two young daughters and deeply engaged in her local community and business. Both are passionately concerned about the impacts of Woodside's fossil fuel production on our children's future and marginalised communities in this country and have faced the full force of the crackdown from authorities in response to their brave stand."
A Disrupt Burrup Hub spokesperson said:
“Yesterday, we aimed to shut down business as usual for Woodside using non-toxic, non-flammable stench gas and harmless smoke flares to sound the alarm about the climate and cultural emergency Woodside are enabling at the Burrup Hub.”
“Woodside's Burrup Hub will produce 6 billion tonnes of C02 over its lifetime, and is already causing permanent damage to ancient, sacred Murujuga rock art.”
“Woodside’s Burrup Hub gas is fuelling Perdaman’s removal of sacred Murujuga rock art sites in the same way that Woodside previously bulldozed and blew up thousands of rock art sites to create other parts of the Burrup Hub mega-project.
“The Perdaman fertiliser plant will be the biggest consumer of gas in Western Australia, using 70% of the domestic gas reservation from Woodside’s mega-polluting Scarborough gas field.”
“Disrupt Burrup Hub is all that stands between Woodside and business as usual on the Burrup. The truth about Woodside’s Burrup Hub is leaking out and we will continue to smoke Woodside out until there is no more industry on or off the Burrup.”
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.
