Protester charged, cops searching home of another
A man has been charged in relation to a graffiti attack on the office building of a major energy giant.
One of the alleged protesters taking part in a recent spate of climate-fuelled action against a major energy giant has been charged.
Punk rocker Trent Rojahn was on Monday night charged at his Fremantle home with one count of criminal damage or destruction of property over his alleged involvement in a protest at the Woodside building in Perth’s CBD.
Police said a 34-year-old man “used a fire extinguisher filled with yellow paint to spray paint the front windows of a building on Mount Street in Perth” on the morning of Monday, February 13, causing about $8000 damage.
The man has been granted bail to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on March 27.
“It’s no shock to me that Western Australian police came quietly in the night two weeks later to do Woodside’s dirty work,” said Mr Rojahn in a statement on Tuesday.
“This will not stop me from taking action to disrupt Burrup Hub. I expected these consequences for my actions and I readily accept them.”
On Tuesday morning, a caller to ABC Perth’s Mornings show – ‘Emma’ – claiming to be Mr Rojahn’s partner, asked guest, Premier Mark McGowan, “When will your police force raid your mate Meg O’Neil’s (Woodside CEO) home for the damage that Woodside is causing?”
“I won’t comment on individual circumstances,” said Mr McGowan, “but if you break the law and commit acts of vandalism, the police are going to pursue it, and I don’t object to that.
“I don’t have any involvement in what the police do, or who they pursue, but acts of vandalism are criminal offences, and you can’t just go and do that and think you can get away with that.
“The gas plant … has been there for 50 years … and they’re subject to very stringent environmental conditions.”
Host Nadia Mitsopoulos asked the Premier if the police response to Mr Rojahn’s arrest was “heavy handed, counter terrorism police arresting someone for spray-painting a piece of glass” but Mr McGowan reiterated his point on police pursuing crimes committed.
Days earlier, anti-terrorism police executed a search warrant on the home of another Disrupt Burrup Hub protester, despite the fact she’s already been charged and has paid her fine.
On February 10, Joana Partyka was fined $2637 and ordered to pay $4821.08 in compensation to the Art Gallery of Western Australia over her using spray paint to deface the Frederick McCubbin painting “Down on His Luck” with the Woodside logo on January 19.
WA Police confirmed officers from State Security Investigations Group – who investigate, among other criminal matters, terrorism offences – executed a search warrant at a Perth home on Friday.
According to a Disrupt Burrup Hub statement, the warrant served to the 37-year-old “listed the suspected offences as Criminal damage … and Conspiracy to commit an indictable offence”.
“Police officers from the State Security Investigation Unit seized a mobile phone, a laptop and a notebook used for work purposes from Ms Partyka and took photographs of other personal items at her property,” read the statement.
Ms Partyka took the matter directly to WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch during an interview on Nine radio station 6PR on Tuesday morning.
“I’d like to ask why the state is using public resources to raid the home of climate protesters for a matter which can be described as graffiti?” asked Ms Partyka, calling in to Gary Adshead’s morning program.
“The investigation from police follows to seize and contain evidence of that crime, and a search warrant was drafted, and would have had to be signed off by a judge … so there was an independent party in the decision to do that, and that is entirely appropriate; it’s the only way we can obtain a search warrant,” responded Mr Blanch.
A third protester sprayed the Woodside logo on the doors of WA’s parliament building on Wednesday, and has since also been charged with criminal damage.
Her action coincided with a visit to WA by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, although he was not in Perth at the time of the protest action.
The group is part of Disrupt Burrup Hub, a group aimed at Woodside Energy’s $50bn Burrup Hub gas project, which they claim will cause untold environmental damage, as well as disturb the Murujuga Aboriginal rock art, believed to be some of the oldest in the world.
Woodside has previously said in a statement it supports the rights of people to protest peacefully and lawfully.
Woodside Energy released its 2022 Climate Report on Monday, revealing a profit of $9.7bn over the last year.
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