Activist uses journalist protection in bid to avoid complying with police order

The trial comes amid mounting pressure on whether the ABC should hand over to police footage from its controversial Four Corners episode

An ABC film crew pictured on the property of Woodside boss Meg O'Neill. Picture: Sky News Australia

A climate activist involved in a controversial protest attempt at the home of Woodside Energy’s chief executive will learn on Tuesday whether he will be jailed over his failure to hand over vast amounts of data to police.

Jesse Noakes, a campaigner involved in the media and communications of several environmental and social causes, went on trial in the Perth Magistrates Court on Monday over four charges relating to his failure to comply with a data access order.

He was among a group of activists from the Disrupt Burrup Hub group charged over the attempted protest at the City Beach home of Woodside chief Meg O’Neill back in early August. The activists, who were apprehended by a group of more than a dozen police who were lying in wait at the home, were accompanied by a television crew from the ABC’s Four Corners program.

The trial comes amid ongoing pressure on the ABC over whether it should comply with a police order to hand over all the footage it compiled as part of the Four Corners report.

While the ABC has said it will not give over anything that compromises the identity of those who co-operated with the program on condition of anonymity, both Mr Noakes and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance have urged the public broadcaster to resist the order completely.

The charges against Mr Noakes relate to his failure to allow police to examine the contents of laptops and mobile phones seized after both the incident at Ms O’Neill’s home, and an earlier April incident when Disrupt Burrup Hub attempted to let off stink bombs inside the Woodside annual general meeting.

Mr Noakes and his lawyer argued that he had a reasonable ­excuse not to allow access to the information, citing the commitments and undertakings he had made to “hundreds, if not thousands” of individuals who had contacted him confidentially on a host of different issues.

Beyond his involvement in high-profile activist groups such as Disrupt Burrup Hub and formerly with Extinction Rebellion, Mr Noakes is involved in a number of campaigns around homelessness and social housing.

He argued he should be entitled to the same protection as journalists, noting his work had been published by a host of news outlets including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Crikey and Meanjin and he derived part of his income from freelance writing.

He said he had an ethically and at times legally binding obligation to protect the information given to him in confidence by often vulnerable and disadvantaged people. Handing over information to police would require him to see explicit consents from those hundreds of people.

The devices included sensitive information provided in confidence by women who were escaping family and domestic violence, as well as non-disclosure agreements, confidential cultural heritage plans, legal documents, and culturally sensitive photographs and information about Indigenous heritage sites.

Police prosecutor Liam O’Connor told the court that the work Mr Noakes was engaged in was not journalism. He noted that an acquittal of Mr Noakes could create an incentive for people to put privileged or confidential information on to their devices so as to “contaminate” it and foil any future data access order.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Noakes said the ruling would have implications for the protection of and trust in media outlets. “Whether I’m calling what I do journalism or campaigning or advocacy, the paramount point remains the primacy of protecting … vulnerable people who stand up to share their stories,” he said.

The court will hand down its decision on Tuesday afternoon.