What are your thoughts on this? I think I’m somewhat on the fence. I firmly believe in the right to protest and that the only effective protests are those that are truly disruptive, but I can also understand the argument that people have the right to feel safe in their homes. Protest rights have been slowly eroded over time in most Australian jurisdictions and so an act like this is sometimes what’s needed to affect change. There’s also the point to be made that the harm that people cause through business decisions doesn’t end at 5PM on a weekday, and we should have the right to protest individuals and their specific actions as well as the companies that they represent.
Thoughts?
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Academic, political and business leaders have weighed in on the prevalence of what they claim are “unacceptable” protest tactics, after four people were arrested after staging a demonstration at the family home of Woodside’s CEO.
WA Premier Roger Cook has also voiced ‘serious concern’ with the role the ABC played, with a television crew present outside Meg O’Neill’s house as the action took place on Tuesday morning.
Police told the court the incident was an escalation of protests by the Disrupt Burrup Hub group who have previously targeted Woodside’s corporate premises and state government property.
During a parliamentary committee hearing on Friday morning in Parliament House, Queensland Senator Matt Canavan asked Woodside’s executive vice president Mark Abbotsford if he had any comment to make about the protest.
It comes as five Greenpeace demonstrators were arrested on Thursday after draping the private home of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in black fabric to protest his oil drilling policy.
“It is doubtful ‘Disrupt Burrup Hub’ would have targeted a private residence if your TV crew was not present to publicise such appalling actions’,” he wrote in the letter to Ms Buttrose.
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