Despicable: Cook on Woodside protest

Premier Roger Cook has labelled the actions of protestors at this week’s Woodside Energy AGM despicable and threatening and says police should take them seriously.

The marathon Woodside AGM was interrupted by protestors several times on Wednesday, including by teenage protestors from Disrupt Burrup Hub.

The Disrupt Burrup protesters chanted the names of the children of re-elected chair Richard Goyder and chief executive Meg O’Neill at the pair as they addressed questions, in a move slammed by Mr Cook today.

“That’s a despicable act,” he said.

“That’s not saying ‘we care about the future, that’s an act of intimidation of those executives – it’s outrageous.”

Mr Cook said he did not buy the excuse put forward by the protesters in the fallout from the incident, who claimed they were acting out concern for future generations.

“It was a direct threat, and those threats should be taken seriously by the police,” Mr Cook said.

The protest was led by 17-year-olds Emma Heyink and Tom Power, alongside Nell Repacholi – who Disrupt Burrup Hub identified as a “parent, educator and Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigner.

While dismissive of the protests, Mr Cook acknowledge the result of the AGM’s vote on Woodside’s climate action plan.

The plan was voluntarily put to a non-binding shareholder vote of approval and was voted down by 58 per cent of participating shareholders in a move considered a protest against Woodside’s progress on climate goals.

After acknowledging the role of government and industry in addressing climate matters, Mr Cook said the result should send a message to Woodside.

“A company like Woodside is a big player, and it has a responsibility to play,” he said.

“The shareholders the other day said ‘we want you to consider this as a matter of urgency.

“We share that urgency.”

Mr Cook stopped short of calling on Woodside to be more ambitious, saying the company’s approach was a question for its management and shareholders.

“Woodside are obviously subject to the safeguard mechanisms that the Commonwealth government has in place,” he said.

“We in WA also place tight restrictions on these companies to make sure that they reduce their emissions, mitigate their emissions or offset their emissions.

“We expect Woodside to do that, and we know they’ve got big ambitions to make sure that’s the case.”