A protester from Disrupt Burrup Hub, a climate change group based in Western Australia (WA), spray-painted the Woodside Energy logo onto the front doors of WA’s parliament house on Thursday in an effort to criticize the government’s investment in fossil fuels. This is the third protest action the group has taken in the past two months, following the defacement of the Woodside logo onto the Art Gallery of Western Australia’s most renowned painting, Frederick McCubbin’s Down on His Luck, and the spraying of the words “Disrupt Burrup Hub” across the glass facade of the Woodside building in Perth’s CBD.
The group is demanding the government shut down the coal and gas industry in Murujuga at the Burrup Peninsula in WA’s North West, alleging that the mining activities are threatening 50,000-year-old Indigenous rock art in the Pilbara.
In a video clip posted on Twitter, protester Tahlia Stolarksi was seen spray-painting yellow paint bearing the oil and gas giant’s logo across multiple doors of the parliament while being filmed by fellow protesters. Stolarski stated that the government subsidizes Woodside’s Burrup Hub with tax breaks in exchange for the largest corporate donations in the country, and that the Burrup Hub’s emissions will reach six billion tonnes by 2070.
Fellow protester Joana Partyka defended the group’s vandalizing action, saying, “revolutionary changes come from people pushing the boundaries of the law.” She added that Parliament House was targeted because Woodside is one of the government’s biggest sponsors.
A Woodside spokesperson said the company “respects people’s rights to protest lawfully and supports constructive engagement on all issues of importance to the communities where we live and work.” Indigenous leader Warren Mundine, however, said the two individuals should have used the proper channels, as “you can’t go around being vigilantes and destroying things.”