Extinction Rebellion Western Australia (XRWA) held a rally on July 23 in solidarity with five of its activists who face court after disrupting the WA parliament debate on Woodside’s proposed Burrup Hub gasfield.
The activists glued themselves to the railings of the parliament's viewing gallery in March last year, to protest the North West Gas Development (Woodside) Agreement Amendment Act 2020 (WA), but were arrested and charged with trespassing.
Burrup Hub will be the most polluting fossil fuel project in Australia, four times the size of Adani's proposed coal mine in Central Queensland, and emitting an extra 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere — making the target of net zero emissions by 2050 impossible.
The project will also cause permanent damage to the Murujuga rock art, which is more than 45,000 years old.
The charged activists will plead not guilty, using the extraordinary emergency defence. They argue that in the context of the climate emergency, their actions were intended to save lives.