WA’s top cop vows to probe police raid on journalist’s home

WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch has vowed to look into a raid on the home of a Pilbara journalist after the media union accused authorities of “harassment” and demanded government intervention.

Ngaarda Media journalist Eliza Kloser told this masthead she was stopped twice by police on Friday while taking photographs of the relocation of sacred Murujuga artefacts at the site of chemical company Perdaman’s $6 billion urea plant, about 20 kilometres north-west of Karratha.

Eliza Kloser’s photo of construction at the site of Perdaman’s urea plant on the Burrup Peninsula. Credit: Eliza Kloser

Kloser said she told them she was a journalist and drove off, but was stopped several kilometres down the road by a second set of police who breathalysed her, conducted a search and quizzed her again about her camera.

The Pilbara-based reporter claims she returned to the employer share house she lived at for two hours before Karratha detectives arrived, rummaging through her possessions and searching her bags for 90 minutes before leaving with her SD card.

Ngaarda Media lead journalist Eliza Kloser.Credit: Eliza Kloser

On Wednesday, Blanch told ABC Radio Perth the search was part of an investigation into Kloser’s colleague and housemate Gerard Mazza, who had been charged with aggravated burglary with intent just hours earlier after allegedly entering a Woodside AGM with a bottle of stench gas and smoke flares as part of a protest against gas exploits on the Burrup Peninsula.

It is not yet known how Mazza intends to plead to the charges.

Kloser and her employer insisted that Mazza acted in a personal capacity and that neither had any prior knowledge of his alleged involvement in the incident, and questioned the seizure of the SD card.

But Blanch defended police, saying they had a right to seize anything they believed could assist with the investigation and that no one was immune.

“I want to be very clear that we don’t assess a person’s job,” he said.

“You’re not immune from a criminal investigation, regardless of your occupation.”

But Blanch could not explain why Kloser was stopped while taking photographs on public property and agreed to look into the circumstances of the incident.

Kloser, who graduated from university in 2022 and has been working for the independent community broadcaster since, said she was shocked by the raid, which took place on the eve of World Press Freedom Day.

She said the project had been one of great interest to the publication’s readership, with the sacred site set to be moved ahead of construction amid fears about the potential impact of emissions from what is expected to be the country’s largest gas-fuelled urea plant.

“I understand that the search was related to my housemate, but it was interesting to say the least that I interacted with police three times that day and the only thing they took was the SD card of my work,” she said.

“They knew it was my camera, they knew they were my photos. Why confiscate my work material?

“It’s something that you see in the movies, you know, and it was happening in my living room.”

The raid prompted calls for WA Police Minister Paul Papalia to launch a review into the incident, with the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance branding the move “concerning”.

MEAA director Cassie Derrick said journalists and their sources needed to be protected from “disturbing raids” and “harassment” and that WA Police had urgent questions to answer.

“Police have seized and retained property on what appear to be questionable grounds,” she said.

“The bottom line is that this kind of police action utterly undermines journalism and the public’s right to know.”

Blanch confirmed the SD card had since been released and returned.

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