Calls for Inquiry Into National Broadcaster’s Role in Radical Climate Protest

The logo for Australia's public broadcaster ABC is seen on its head office building in Sydney, Australia, on Sept. 27, 2018. Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images

Western Australian (WA) Liberal senators are pushing for an inquiry into the role the national broadcaster played in a radical climate protest that targeted the home of an energy company CEO.

At about 6:45 a.m. last week in Perth, a camera crew from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) was present outside the home of Woodside Energy CEO Meg O’Neill to capture footage for its “Four Corners” program.

The crew was alerted to a protest action planned by radical activists from Disrupt Burrup Hub, a climate group dedicated to stopping a planned industrial expansion along the Burrup Peninsula in northern WA. 

The senators proposed their inquiry this afternoon not long after Sky News Australia revealed a CCTV image showing the ABC crew standing on the driveway of Ms. O'Neill’s home, despite claims to the contrary by the broadcaster.

Michaelia Cash, senator for WA and former attorney-general, said ABC’s actions need to be formally examined.

“The picture of the crew in the driveway of Ms. O’Neill’s home calls into question the ABC’s explanation of events last week,” Senator Cash said on Aug. 8. 

“A Senate inquiry has the power to get to the bottom of exactly what went on and how the ABC came to be at the protest. We call on the Albanese government to back the inquiry.”

Woodside CEO Ms. O’Neill condemned the actions of the activists.

“It was designed to threaten me, my partner, and our daughter at 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,” she said in a statement.

WA Premier Criticises ABC

Western Australian Premier Roger Cook condemned the ABC for inciting the incident and voiced his concerns to the broadcaster’s chairwoman Ita Buttrose. 

“The fact that an ABC TV crew attended the home of a private citizen to document the committing of alleged criminal acts is a cause for great concern and morally wrong”, he wrote.

In his letter, Cook also rejected the notion that the ABC’s crew was not responsible for the protestors’ actions.

“It is difficult to comprehend how a TV crew could not understand how their presence at a private residence only encouraged these activists,” he said.

“Wittingly or unwittingly, the ABC is complicit.” 

ABC Denies Complicity

In a statement issued by ABC on its website shortly after the event, the organisation maintained that the camera crew in question did not break any laws nor infringe private property rights in their documentation efforts.

“They at no time went on to private property or had any involvement in what was happening. The ABC team in no way colluded with the activists,” said a spokesperson.

“A Four Corners team attended the protest action to gather material for a potential report later this year. Just prior to action the team received a tip to go to an address, they had no knowledge of what was at the address or that it was someone’s house.”

However, after Sky News released the photo of the reporting crew standing on the driveway of Ms. O'Neill, ABC amended its statement to say: “Update on 4 August 2023: In response to concerns that have been raised, the ABC is conducting a detailed examination of the circumstances surrounding this matter.”

Environmental Lawyer Defends Protestors

Disrupt Burrup Hub’s attorney Zarah Burgess has vehemently defended the actions of the activists.

“I doubt very much that Ms. O’Neill was taken by surprise, given at least a dozen officers were camped out at her property, ready to pounce on three peaceful climate campaigners and an ABC film crew,” said Burgess in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald.

“As a former DPP prosecutor, I find it incredible that the CEO of Woodside is afforded a level of police protection that victims of family violence are not. I wonder if the community is happy that their hard-earned tax dollars are spent protecting the head of a multi-billion dollar fossil fuel company from a harmless protest, rather than on vulnerable people who actually need it?”

Four of the actors were arrested by police outside Ms. O’Neill’s home with two charged with conspiring to commit an indictable offence. 

Woodside’s planned mega-project comprises the development of two new gas fields just off the coast of Western Australia’s Pilbara region with pipelines connecting the fields to the company’s existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals.

Disrupt Burrup Hub opposes the $50 million project over both its potential environmental ramifications as well as its encroachment on the Murujuga rock art site nearby.