Latest news with #DisruptBurrupHub
Sydney Morning Herald
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
WA News LIVE: Protesters disrupt Woodside open day; E-bike battery fire destroys century-old home
Good morning readers, and thanks for joining us for another week! Hope you enjoyed the weekend's beautiful weather. Rounding up the news as it stands, this morning Emma Young is reporting further into the problems at South Perth council and investigating why the state's Liberal Party seems so concerned about those tiny foreshore trees. Whether the party has its eye on the South Perth mayoral election as well as the next state election is not yet known, but the council's ructions are deepening. On Sunday, Hannah Barry reported Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's comments from a Perth event ahead of next week's planned economic roundtable, as US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin walked away from a critical summit without a Ukraine ceasefire deal. Albanese also said WA was at the centre of government renewable energy plans. Read more here. Also on Sunday, Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigners made things awkward for Woodside with a high-vis protest at the Woodside Open Day for Science Week at WA's Maritime Museum. To celebrate the announcement of a five-year extension to Woodside's decades-long sponsorship of WA Museum research into WA ocean life, Woodside was supporting free entry to the WA Maritime Museum with family activities focused on marine life. The protesters were intending to call attention to an Australian Institute of Marine Science report last week that found WA's reefs including Ningaloo have suffered their worst ever bleaching on record as Woodside progresses plans for its Burrup Hub mega-project in the region. 'Today's children may never see unbleached coral in the natural world,' said Janna, 24, a pediatric nurse who joined the protest. After holding the banner for a minute or so inside the building, the protesters held the banner outside the entrance in front of a crowd of supporters.
The Age
8 hours ago
- Politics
- The Age
WA News LIVE: Protesters disrupt Woodside open day; E-bike battery fire destroys century-old home
Good morning readers, and thanks for joining us for another week! Hope you enjoyed the weekend's beautiful weather. Rounding up the news as it stands, this morning Emma Young is reporting further into the problems at South Perth council and investigating why the state's Liberal Party seems so concerned about those tiny foreshore trees. Whether the party has its eye on the South Perth mayoral election as well as the next state election is not yet known, but the council's ructions are deepening. On Sunday, Hannah Barry reported Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's comments from a Perth event ahead of next week's planned economic roundtable, as US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin walked away from a critical summit without a Ukraine ceasefire deal. Albanese also said WA was at the centre of government renewable energy plans. Read more here. Also on Sunday, Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigners made things awkward for Woodside with a high-vis protest at the Woodside Open Day for Science Week at WA's Maritime Museum. To celebrate the announcement of a five-year extension to Woodside's decades-long sponsorship of WA Museum research into WA ocean life, Woodside was supporting free entry to the WA Maritime Museum with family activities focused on marine life. The protesters were intending to call attention to an Australian Institute of Marine Science report last week that found WA's reefs including Ningaloo have suffered their worst ever bleaching on record as Woodside progresses plans for its Burrup Hub mega-project in the region. 'Today's children may never see unbleached coral in the natural world,' said Janna, 24, a pediatric nurse who joined the protest. After holding the banner for a minute or so inside the building, the protesters held the banner outside the entrance in front of a crowd of supporters.
Perth Now
7 days ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
'Post and boast' laws 'threaten' free speech: activists
Proposed laws aimed at deterring the glorification of illegal activity on social media could threaten free speech and the right to protest peacefully, activists say. The Western Australian legislation could make social media posts that enhance an offender's notoriety or humiliate victims a criminal act, with penalties of up to three years' jail for circulating the material. But conservationists and legal advocates say the laws, which are set to be debated in parliament this week, are a risk to democracy and want the Bill amended. They say the legislation could criminalise the sharing of certain political material, including videos of direct-action activities and non-violent civil disobedience. WA Justice Association lawyer Tom Penglis said there is no evidence the laws would deter crime and could lead to more people being incarcerated "This is not simply a post and boast Bill that will apply to crimfluencers," he said on Monday. "It is much, much broader than that and will have a chilling effect on free speech." Less "extreme" versions of the laws had been staunchly opposed in Victoria, NSW and South Australia, Mr Penglis said. Conservation Council of WA director Matt Roberts said the laws could have serious ramifications for people who share information about protest actions publicly. "We believe this legislation could potentially be used to silence legitimate political dissent and undermine democratic freedoms," he said. Premier Roger Cook said the laws wouldn't be used to stifle political debate, freedom of speech or protests and rallies. The laws were aimed at the promotion of illegal activity, such as hooning and motor vehicle theft. People who use social media to post about a rally or protest would not be prosecuted, he said. "Encouraging people to break the law, glorifying that behaviour, or encouraging others to undertake that sort of behaviour is the primary focus," Mr Cook said. Climate activists from the Disrupt Burrup Hub group have undertaken numerous protests against Woodside Energy's expansion of a gas project in WA's northwest, some of which have resulted in criminal charges. These include the release of stench gas at the company's Perth headquarters in June, forcing the evacuation of about 2000 staff and spray painting a Woodside logo onto the perspex covering Frederick McCubbin's painting "Down On His Luck" at the Art Gallery of WA. The government has previously said the legislation aims to prevent further harm and re-traumatisation of victims caused by malicious posting of criminal behaviour and dangerous incidents. If passed in parliament, it gives courts the power to order the removal of offending material, with failure to do so punishable by up to 12 months' imprisonment and a $12,000 fine.
Sky News AU
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Penny Wong heckled by environmental activists in Perth as backlash against North West Shelf gas extension escalates
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's new-look cabinet's tour of Perth has been disrupted after Foreign Minister Penny Wong was blasted by climate demonstrators for the government's contentious North West Shelf gas extension. The Prime Minister spent the day in Perth alongside his cabinet colleagues, after securing a shock defection from Western Australian Greens-turned-Labor Senator Dorinda Cox. However, the PM's trip was overshadowed by a number of issues including a renewed push from NSW and Victoria for the government to reduce WA's GST share in addition to demonstrations from climate activists protesting Environment Minister Murray Watt's polarising decision to greenlight the North West Shelf gas extension. A Perth-based environmentalist group called 'Disrupt Burrup Hub', which aims to oppose Woodside's Burrup Hub gas processing facilities scorned the Foreign Minister for abandoning climate action in a tense confrontation. Ms Wong whilst strolling the streets of Perth was pursued by a male protester who questioned her as to why the Albanese government "was destroying our future'. 'Penny your government is destroying our future, how dare you, we relied on you,' the man shouted, with members of Ms Wong's staff and security team restraining the protester from advancing towards the Minister. The man continued and stated that the Albanese government would 'destroy the world's oldest rock air,' referencing the fact that the Karratha Gas Plant was located close to a 50,000-year-old Indigenous rock art gallery. The demonstrator said Ms Wong was a member of a government that 'pretends to take climate action,' and exclaimed, 'how could you do this to us?' The group, which has previously protested against the Albanese government's position on the conflict in Gaza opposes the entirety of Woodside's operations in the Burrup Hub in addition to new industrial expansions in the Scarborough and Browse gas fields. The group states it stands up for Woodside's 'crimes against humanity'. The Burrup Hub is a larger proposed expansion of gas infrastructure, and aims to link the existing Pluto LNG facility and the North West Shelf to create a regional LNP production centre on the Burrup Peninsula. The decision to extend the life of the project until 2070 enraged numerous environmental and Indigenous groups, with the Climate Council stating the move would release an additional four billion tonnes of fossil fuel emissions, of which is equivalent to a decade of Australia's annual emissions. Senator Cox also strongly condemned the decision last week and voiced her firm disapproval, despite stating that her values best align with the Labor Party and that being a member of the Labor government was the best way to enact change.
The Advertiser
30-05-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Three face court amid protests over gas hub expansion
Three protesters who targeted a Woodside annual general meeting with stench gas and flares will be sentenced on downgraded charges as protests continue over the extension of a mammoth gas project. Woodside's North West Shelf project - which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant - has been given the green light by the federal government to keep operating until 2070. The Australian energy giant still has to accept conditions around heritage and air quality at the project on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula, home to ancient rock art, before the approval is made official. The decision has been met with anger by environmental and Indigenous groups who argue it will trash efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on ancient petroglyphs. Campaign group Disrupt Burrup Hub on Friday gathered outside the WA District Court, arguing the decision to extend the project's life showed the government "cannot be trusted with protecting First Nations culture or our climate". The protest doubled as a support rally for three of the group's activists who targeted Woodside's 2023 annual general meeting with stench gas and flares, in what the group previously said was an attempt to get the building evacuated. Gerard Mazza, Jesse Noakes and Tahlia Stolarski have pleaded guilty to charges laid over their protest at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in April 2023, saying they had pulled off "a successful hoax". They were set to face sentencing in the District Court on Friday but an amended indictment and statement of facts means sentencing has been adjourned for a week. Disrupt Burrup Hub said on Friday the trio had pleaded guilty to a downgraded charge of attempting to do an act to create false belief, instead of a previous charge of do an act to create false belief. Dozens of banner-waving and drumming protesters gathered outside the court on Friday as a strong police contingent watched on. Footage circulating on social media showed one protester being detained by police. The gas hub extension approval came just hours after the United Nations said industrial emissions at Karratha threatened the nearby rock art, likely sinking Australia's attempts to secure heritage listing for the carvings. The Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, which partners with the WA government in monitoring the preservation of the rock art, said a recent evaluation report found the site was in a good state of conservation and supported its World Heritage listing. Meanwhile, federal Environment Minister Murray Watt needs to sit down with traditional owners who oppose the extension, an ex-Labor senator and Indigenous rights activist says. "He needs to go and talk to those traditional owners from that area and hear their side of the story ... so they understand and he understands the the depth of their concern and why they are so upset," Pat Dodson told ABC Radio on Friday. The WA government said on Friday it would undertake a four-month review into native title and cultural heritage processes in the state's mining sector with a focus on improving outcomes for both traditional owners and industry. Three protesters who targeted a Woodside annual general meeting with stench gas and flares will be sentenced on downgraded charges as protests continue over the extension of a mammoth gas project. Woodside's North West Shelf project - which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant - has been given the green light by the federal government to keep operating until 2070. The Australian energy giant still has to accept conditions around heritage and air quality at the project on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula, home to ancient rock art, before the approval is made official. The decision has been met with anger by environmental and Indigenous groups who argue it will trash efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on ancient petroglyphs. Campaign group Disrupt Burrup Hub on Friday gathered outside the WA District Court, arguing the decision to extend the project's life showed the government "cannot be trusted with protecting First Nations culture or our climate". The protest doubled as a support rally for three of the group's activists who targeted Woodside's 2023 annual general meeting with stench gas and flares, in what the group previously said was an attempt to get the building evacuated. Gerard Mazza, Jesse Noakes and Tahlia Stolarski have pleaded guilty to charges laid over their protest at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in April 2023, saying they had pulled off "a successful hoax". They were set to face sentencing in the District Court on Friday but an amended indictment and statement of facts means sentencing has been adjourned for a week. Disrupt Burrup Hub said on Friday the trio had pleaded guilty to a downgraded charge of attempting to do an act to create false belief, instead of a previous charge of do an act to create false belief. Dozens of banner-waving and drumming protesters gathered outside the court on Friday as a strong police contingent watched on. Footage circulating on social media showed one protester being detained by police. The gas hub extension approval came just hours after the United Nations said industrial emissions at Karratha threatened the nearby rock art, likely sinking Australia's attempts to secure heritage listing for the carvings. The Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, which partners with the WA government in monitoring the preservation of the rock art, said a recent evaluation report found the site was in a good state of conservation and supported its World Heritage listing. Meanwhile, federal Environment Minister Murray Watt needs to sit down with traditional owners who oppose the extension, an ex-Labor senator and Indigenous rights activist says. "He needs to go and talk to those traditional owners from that area and hear their side of the story ... so they understand and he understands the the depth of their concern and why they are so upset," Pat Dodson told ABC Radio on Friday. The WA government said on Friday it would undertake a four-month review into native title and cultural heritage processes in the state's mining sector with a focus on improving outcomes for both traditional owners and industry. Three protesters who targeted a Woodside annual general meeting with stench gas and flares will be sentenced on downgraded charges as protests continue over the extension of a mammoth gas project. Woodside's North West Shelf project - which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant - has been given the green light by the federal government to keep operating until 2070. The Australian energy giant still has to accept conditions around heritage and air quality at the project on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula, home to ancient rock art, before the approval is made official. The decision has been met with anger by environmental and Indigenous groups who argue it will trash efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on ancient petroglyphs. Campaign group Disrupt Burrup Hub on Friday gathered outside the WA District Court, arguing the decision to extend the project's life showed the government "cannot be trusted with protecting First Nations culture or our climate". The protest doubled as a support rally for three of the group's activists who targeted Woodside's 2023 annual general meeting with stench gas and flares, in what the group previously said was an attempt to get the building evacuated. Gerard Mazza, Jesse Noakes and Tahlia Stolarski have pleaded guilty to charges laid over their protest at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in April 2023, saying they had pulled off "a successful hoax". They were set to face sentencing in the District Court on Friday but an amended indictment and statement of facts means sentencing has been adjourned for a week. Disrupt Burrup Hub said on Friday the trio had pleaded guilty to a downgraded charge of attempting to do an act to create false belief, instead of a previous charge of do an act to create false belief. Dozens of banner-waving and drumming protesters gathered outside the court on Friday as a strong police contingent watched on. Footage circulating on social media showed one protester being detained by police. The gas hub extension approval came just hours after the United Nations said industrial emissions at Karratha threatened the nearby rock art, likely sinking Australia's attempts to secure heritage listing for the carvings. The Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, which partners with the WA government in monitoring the preservation of the rock art, said a recent evaluation report found the site was in a good state of conservation and supported its World Heritage listing. Meanwhile, federal Environment Minister Murray Watt needs to sit down with traditional owners who oppose the extension, an ex-Labor senator and Indigenous rights activist says. "He needs to go and talk to those traditional owners from that area and hear their side of the story ... so they understand and he understands the the depth of their concern and why they are so upset," Pat Dodson told ABC Radio on Friday. The WA government said on Friday it would undertake a four-month review into native title and cultural heritage processes in the state's mining sector with a focus on improving outcomes for both traditional owners and industry. Three protesters who targeted a Woodside annual general meeting with stench gas and flares will be sentenced on downgraded charges as protests continue over the extension of a mammoth gas project. Woodside's North West Shelf project - which hosts Australia's biggest gas export plant - has been given the green light by the federal government to keep operating until 2070. The Australian energy giant still has to accept conditions around heritage and air quality at the project on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula, home to ancient rock art, before the approval is made official. The decision has been met with anger by environmental and Indigenous groups who argue it will trash efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on ancient petroglyphs. Campaign group Disrupt Burrup Hub on Friday gathered outside the WA District Court, arguing the decision to extend the project's life showed the government "cannot be trusted with protecting First Nations culture or our climate". The protest doubled as a support rally for three of the group's activists who targeted Woodside's 2023 annual general meeting with stench gas and flares, in what the group previously said was an attempt to get the building evacuated. Gerard Mazza, Jesse Noakes and Tahlia Stolarski have pleaded guilty to charges laid over their protest at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in April 2023, saying they had pulled off "a successful hoax". They were set to face sentencing in the District Court on Friday but an amended indictment and statement of facts means sentencing has been adjourned for a week. Disrupt Burrup Hub said on Friday the trio had pleaded guilty to a downgraded charge of attempting to do an act to create false belief, instead of a previous charge of do an act to create false belief. Dozens of banner-waving and drumming protesters gathered outside the court on Friday as a strong police contingent watched on. Footage circulating on social media showed one protester being detained by police. The gas hub extension approval came just hours after the United Nations said industrial emissions at Karratha threatened the nearby rock art, likely sinking Australia's attempts to secure heritage listing for the carvings. The Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, which partners with the WA government in monitoring the preservation of the rock art, said a recent evaluation report found the site was in a good state of conservation and supported its World Heritage listing. Meanwhile, federal Environment Minister Murray Watt needs to sit down with traditional owners who oppose the extension, an ex-Labor senator and Indigenous rights activist says. "He needs to go and talk to those traditional owners from that area and hear their side of the story ... so they understand and he understands the the depth of their concern and why they are so upset," Pat Dodson told ABC Radio on Friday. The WA government said on Friday it would undertake a four-month review into native title and cultural heritage processes in the state's mining sector with a focus on improving outcomes for both traditional owners and industry.
