Activists set sights on Woodside and Rio Tinto director Ben Wyatt’s home

The group behind a controversial recent protest outside the family home of Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill have now targeted the home of Ben Wyatt.

Desmond Blurton protests outside the home of Woodside and Rio Tinto director Ben Wyatt.

The group behind a recent protest outside the family home of Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill has now targeted the home of Woodside and Rio Tinto director Ben Wyatt.

Disrupt Burrup Hub, which is opposed to Woodside’s plans to expand and extend its liquefied natural gas projects on Western Australia’s Burrup Peninsula, on Wednesday morning said Indigenous community leader Desmond Blurton had staged a cultural protest outside Mr Wyatt’s home in the wealthy western suburb of Nedlands.

The latest incident drew fresh criticism of the protest group from WA Premier Roger Cook and Woodside.

Mr Wyatt, who is also Indigenous, was the treasurer of WA until 2021 and has since joined the boards of Woodside and Rio Tinto as well as the West Coast Eagles AFL club.

Ben Wyatt. Picture: Colin Murty

In a statement, Disrupt Burrup Hub said Mr Blurton planted an Aboriginal flag on grass outside Mr Wyatt’s house and lit eucalyptus leaves as part of a smoking ceremony. The protest, it said, was staged during school hours so Mr Wyatt’s children were not present.

“As WA treasurer and Aboriginal affairs minister, Mr Wyatt was responsible for the aborted Aboriginal Heritage Act that was repealed by the WA Labor government last month and oversaw the Section 18 approval process that enabled Juukan Gorge and the removal of sacred Muru­juga rock art to construct the Perdaman fertiliser plant at Woodside’s Burrup Hub,” Disrupt Burrup Hub said.

“After leaving WA politics in 2021, Mr Wyatt swiftly joined the boards of Rio Tinto, responsible for the destruction of the Juukan Gorge caves, and Woodside, whose Burrup Hub threatens ­UNESCO-nominated Murujuga rock art with toxic emissions and has already destroyed thousands of sacred sites.”

Mr Wyatt is actively campaigning in favour of the Indigenous voice to parliament, and appeared at a business lunch on the topic on Wednesday. He declined to comment on the incident.

The protest echoes a similar event in early August, in which 19-year-old Disrupt Burrup Hub protester Matilda Lane-Rose was arrested outside Ms O’Neill’s City Beach mansion.

Disrupt Burrup Hub protesters talking to the ABC outside Meg O'Neill's home.

Mr Cook slammed the latest protest, telling reporters that Mr Wyatt and other figures should not be harassed at their homes.

“I’m disgusted with those sort of tactics,” he said.

“People’s homes should be a place where (they) can feel secure and should be free from the harassment of others. It’s not on.”

A spokeswoman for Woodside also condemned the latest protect.

“Woodside respects the rights of all in the community to express their views and welcomes open and robust debate on important ­issues, but protest activity should not target individuals and their families in their private homes,” she said.

“Everyone has the right to personal privacy and safety.”

The targeting of Ms O’Neill’s home in early August was roundly criticised, as was the decision by the ABC to send a Four Corners crew to the protest.

Disrupt Burrup Hub has been responsible for a series of contentious protest actions.

Earlier this year, Mr Blurton was part of a protest in which activists spray-painted the Woodside logo on to the classic Colonial-era artwork Down on His Luck.

He was arrested but released without charge.

Artists spray-painted the iconic Australian painting Down on His Luck with the Woodside logo in response to Woodside’s Burrup Hub project. The artwork was protected by clear plastic sheeting and was not damaged.

In April, two activists were ­arrested after they tried to take stench gas into the Woodside annual general meeting.

In June, protesters forced the evacuation of Woodside’s Perth head office after setting off stink bombs.

The activists argue that emissions from Woodside’s Burrup Hub project will exacerbate climate change issues and accelerate the erosion of the Aboriginal rock art in the region.