Woodside Energy’s chief executive Meg O’Neill says she is concerned by the potential threat climate activists pose after a failed protest at her family home.

November 17, 2023

Woodside Energy’s boss says she remains concerned about the threat posed by “extremist” climate activists months after a failed protest outside her family home.

West Australian counter-terrorism police were waiting for members of the Disrupt Burrup Hub group when they arrived at chief executive Meg O’Neill’s home in August.

The group was taken into custody and charged amid allegations they illegally trespassed onto Ms O’Neill’s property with an ABC camera crew to intimidate her.

Ms O’Neill on Friday doubled down on previous comments about the incident saying it was “extremely distressing” for her family who were also inside the house.

“The biggest concern is for my family and making sure that my family is safe and can continue to go about their business day to day,” she told reporters at an energy transition summit in Perth on Friday.

Ms O’Neill said she respected people’s right to protest about climate change and acknowledged that she was a public figure advocating for the gas industry.

“(But) when people turn up and intimidate my family that’s crossing the line,” she said.

Ms O’Neill said she continues to think about the incident and “it is something that we’re concerned about”.

“Unfortunately, there are people who seem to think there are no boundaries in the way that these conversations might happen,” she said.

Premier Roger Cook previously called the activists “extremists” and said they had terrorised Ms O’Neill and her family.

He also condemned an ABC Four Corners crew who accompanied the activists while filming a story about their activities.

Three men, aged 21, 31 and 34, and a 19-year-old woman were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence following the incident.

Their cases continue to progress through the WA courts.

Ms O’Neill is understood to be scheduled to appear in a Perth court next week after taking out violence restraining orders against some Disrupt Burrup Hub members following the incident.

The Burrup Peninsula, in WA’s Pilbara region and known as Murujuga to traditional owners, contains the world’s largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs.

Disrupt Burrup Hub claims Woodside’s operations in the area and its proposed expansion form the biggest new fossil fuel project in the country and could produce billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2070.

It has carried out a series of actions against Woodside this year including the release of stench gas at the company’s Perth headquarters in June, forcing the evacuation of about 2000 staff.