Woodside energy threatening to sue individual activists after stink bomb stunt
Australia's largest oil and gas company Woodside energy is threatening to sue individual activists for financial damages. Last month, climate protesters set off a 'stink bomb' inside the company's Perth headquarters causing an evacuation.
Transcript
00:00 It started with yellow smoke and ended with a stink bomb.
00:07 Today I deployed non-toxic, non-flammable stench gas to shut down business as usual
00:11 for Woodside and sound the alarm about the climate and cultural emergency.
00:17 The climate activist group Disrupt Burrup Hub has taken responsibility for the protest
00:22 last month, which was designed to mimic the smell of a gas leak.
00:26 But they didn't imagine the fallout.
00:29 I have criminal proceedings brought against me.
00:32 Another campaigner has also had charges pressed against them and was also subject to house
00:38 arrest conditions for a couple of months while on bail.
00:41 Woodside, a company worth over $24 billion, said it suffered financially as a result of
00:48 the protest.
00:49 And now it wants to be compensated.
00:52 It's very clear to me that they're trying to intimidate and bully climate protesters.
00:59 They're designed with an end goal and that is to silence activists.
01:05 Climate law professor Nicole Rogers says the Woodside legal threat is unlikely to be successful
01:11 in court, but it can have a chilling effect on the future of protest.
01:16 It's very much a David and Goliath battle.
01:19 The corporations that are bringing these lawsuits have very deep pockets, but really the intention
01:25 is to disempower and silence activists.
01:30 Woodside said it does not comment on matters that are before the court.
01:33 However, previously it said in a statement that it condemns unlawful acts that intend
01:39 to intimidate employees.
01:41 There's no way that climate campaigners will stop their work in response to these kinds
01:46 of threats.
01:48 For now, Joanna Partica has refused to comply with Woodside's demands to name other individuals
01:54 involved in the stink bomb protest.
01:56 [BLANK_AUDIO]