‘Please explain’ for ABC on filming attack on Woodside Energy boss Meg O’Neill’s home

The ABC is under pressure to say why one of its camera crews was outside the home of Woodside Energy boss Meg O’Neill just as a group of climate protesters invaded her property.

Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O'Neill.

The ABC is under pressure to explain why one of its camera crews was outside the home of Woodside Energy boss Meg O’Neill just as a group of extremist climate protesters invaded her property in the early hours of the morning.

Ms O’Neill on Wednesday called the protest a deliberate attempt to threaten her and her family, as her company said the protesters came with camera crews ready to film the attack on her Perth home.

Police attended Ms O’Neill’s home in the City Beach at 6.45am on Tuesday, with reports indicating two men aged 34 and 31 and a 19-year-old woman had been arrested.

Madeleine King Minister for Resources. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Labor moved swiftly to condemn the protests, with Resources Minister Madeleine King calling the invasion of the energy chief’s home an “extreme act” and not a legitimate protest.

A source has told The Australian that the camera crew was not one of the usual ABC news crews, and there were suspicions it was a team shooting footage for investigative program Four Corners.

A spokeswoman for the public broadcaster did not say why the crew was at the property so early and what prior knowledge it had of the climate extremists' intentions.

The ABC denied any “collusion” with the people who targeted Ms O’Neill and her family.

“A TV crew filmed the protest for a story,’’ the ABC said in a statement. “Any notion that the TV crew was colluding with the protesters is false.’’

The Australian has asked a follow-up question as to whether the crew was collecting footage for Four Corners.

Woodside on Tuesday pointed to the camera crew’s presence to show the home invasion was “an organised and deliberate act designed to intimidate Ms O’Neill and her family’’.

“This is an unacceptable ­escalation in activity designed to threaten and intimidate by an ­extremist group which has no ­interest in engaging in respectful and constructive debate about Woodside’s role in the transition towards a lower-carbon world,’’ a Woodside spokesman said.

“Illegal activity like this only serves to distract from the real work being undertaken to achieve decarbonisation,’’ he added.

Ms O’Neill thanked West Australian police for their swift response in acting to ensure the safety of her family members.

“This was not a ‘harmless protest’,’’ she said. “It was designed to threaten me, my partner and our daughter in our home.

“Such acts by extremists should be condemned by anyone who respects the law and believes people should be safe to go about their business at home and at work.’’

In a statement, the federal Resources Minister said ­ “seeking to intimidate someone in their home or workplace is ­intolerable”.

“Extreme acts like this are not legitimate protest activity,” Ms King said.

“Such acts are violent and ­intimidating and I condemn it entirely.

“It would be a loss for all of us if Australia were to become the kind of place where public figures needed to surround themselves with security at all times.’’

WA police have not publicly identified those arrested.

Woodside has been targeted in recent times by the Disrupt Burrup Hub group. A member of the group was arrested in June for allegedly setting off a “stench gas” bomb at the company’s Perth headquarters, necessitating evacuation of the building.

The group is protesting the expansion of energy projects on the Burrup Peninsula in WA’s Pilbara region, with Woodside’s Scarborough and Pluto Train 2 projects targeting eight million tonnes a year of new gas from offshore wells starting in 2026.

Originally published as ‘Please explain’ for ABC on filming attack on Woodside Energy boss Meg O’Neill’s home