Woodside threatens to sue Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigners in the Supreme Court for loss of earnings and social licence

Kristen Morrissey forced a full evacuation of the Woodside building earlier this year.

7.00 AM AET Thursday 27 July

In a stunning escalation of the campaign against Woodside’s Burrup Hub, Woodside is threatening to sue Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigners in the Supreme Court of Western Australia for loss of earnings following the safe, successful evacuation of Woodside’s corporate headquarters in a hoax gas leak on June 1.

A letter (attached) sent by Woodside’s lawyers, top-tier international law firm Allen’s & Linklater, to ceramic artist and illustrator Joana Partyka on June 29, requests any documents or other materials that may identify anyone involved “in the planning, preparation and/or execution” of  the complete evacuation of Woodside headquarters by the Disrupt Burrup Hub campaign.

On June 1, Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigner Kristen Morrisey safely evacuated all employees from the headquarters of gas company Woodside with a hoax ‘gas leak’ using harmless, non-toxic “stench gas”, normally used to sound the alarm about industrial emergencies.

The letter to Ms Partyka, who was not present at the evacuation but was arrested in a WA counter-terror police raid nearly two weeks later on June 12, states that Woodside “has reason to believe that persons other than you or Ms Morrissey were involved” in the hoax gas leak that successfully evacuated approximately 2,500 Woodside workers. Ms Morrissey received a similar letter.

The letter further states that Woodside “has suffered loss and damage, including costs associated with cleaning…and lost productive time to Woodside’s business” caused as a direct result of the evacuation.

Woodside reported losses of $1.8 billion in the second quarter of 2023 as the Disrupt Burrup Hub campaign targeted Woodside’s social licence to operate the Burrup Hub in an escalating campaign of high profile actions to damage Woodside’s brand.

As Woodside “believes it may have a cause of action against persons other than Ms Partyka and Ms Morrissey” and “wants to commence proceedings” against all campaigners involved, it accordingly requests “any documents that may identify these unknown persons.” 

If the campaigners do not comply, Woodside states it intends to file for pre-action discovery orders in the WA Supreme Court and requires Ms Partyka and Ms Morrissey to appear in the Supreme Court to be cross-examined to identify other campaigners.

This is despite ongoing criminal proceedings against Ms Partyka and Ms Morrissey in relation to the evacuation of Woodside, and ongoing counter-terror raids, device seizures and data access orders against a number of other Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigners.

Lawyers for both campaigners notified Woodside on July 24, the extended deadline for a response, that neither Ms Partyka nor Ms Morrisey will be complying with the request.

Ceramic artist and illustrator Joana Partyka said:

“This extreme reaction is an attempt to threaten, intimidate and silence peaceful climate campaigners sounding the alarm about Woodside’s Burrup Hub. Woodside’s Burrup Hub is destroying sacred Aboriginal culture and destroying the planet for future generations with 6 billion tons of CO2.”

“I am unable to comment on the Incident because I was nowhere near Woodside headquarters when it was completely evacuated by a gas leak hoax. I was roped in later on the flimsiest of pretexts and the criminal case has been described in court as ‘very tenuous’.”

“This isn’t really about some cleaning costs at Woodside headquarters - it’s about brand damage to Woodside who have lost their social licence to operate the Burrup Hub. This legal threat is completely unprecedented and shows that the Disrupt Burrup Hub campaign is working.”

“Woodside are embarrassed and angered by the safe, smart evacuation of their corporate headquarters and they are slapping back in the only language they understand - profit and loss.”

Background:

The Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia is known as Murujuga to traditional custodians, a deeply sacred place that contains the largest, oldest collection of Aboriginal rock art in the world. This priceless cultural treasure is currently nominated for UNESCO world heritage listing, but the sacred songlines and stories contained in these carvings are being damaged by emissions from the Burrup Hub and face total destruction within decades. Woodside has previously been responsible for the destruction of around 5,000 sacred rock art sites in the construction of earlier parts of its Burrup Hub mega-project, including the Karratha Gas Plant and Pluto LNG processing facility.

Woodside's Burrup Hub is the biggest new fossil fuel project in Australia. It consists of the Scarborough and Browse Basin gas fields, the Pluto Project processing plant, and other linked liquified natural gas (LNG) and fertiliser plants on the Burrup Peninsula in WA’s remote north-west Pilbara region. The Burrup Hub is projected to produce more than 6 billion tons of CO2 by 2070, making it four times larger than the Adani coal mine and one of the biggest carbon bombs in the world.

On January 19, Joana Partyka, a ceramic artist and illustrator from Perth, sprayed the Woodside logo in yellow paint on the colonial masterpiece ‘Down on His Luck’ at the Art Gallery of WA. The protest was subsequently endorsed by most descendants of ‘Down on His Luck’ painter Frederick McCubbin. On February 13, punk musician Trent Rojahn coated the Woodside building with a fire extinguisher full of high-pressure yellow paint and sprayed the slogan ‘Disrupt Burrup Hub’ across the glass at the entrance to Woodside’s corporate headquarters. On Tuesday February 21, graphic designer and mum of two Tahlia Stolarski sprayed the Woodside logo six times in yellow paint on the front doors of WA Parliament.

On April 28, Gerard Mazza and Tahlia Stolarski were charged with Aggravated Burglary attempting to evacuate the Woodside AGM in Perth using harmless stench gas and smoke flares. On May 3, environmental activist Violet CoCo, the first person jailed under repressive new police powers legislation in New South Wales, sprayed the Woodside logo in yellow paint on the front of the Perth Police Centre in protest at the escalating police crackdown on climate protest in Western Australia. On May 20, musician and student Emil Davey invaded the pitch of an AFL game during Indigenous Round, sponsored by Woodside, disrupting play for several minutes with a large flag reading Disrupt Burrup Hub. On June 1, Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigner Kristen Morrissey safely evacuated Woodside’s corporate headquarters in Perth using harmless, non-toxic ‘stench gas’ to simulate a hoax gas leak, successfully evacuating several thousand Woodside workers and stopping work for the day.