Premier Roger Cook pens letter to ABC over attendance at home of Woodside’s Meg O’Neill during protest

Roger Cook has penned a withering letter to ABC chair Ita Buttrose, blasting the public broadcaster over its “morally wrong” attendance at the home of Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill as it was descended on by climate protesters. The Premier wrote it was “doubtful” the activists would have targeted Ms O’Neill’s residence “if your TV crew was not present to publicise such appalling actions” — which he said had “encouraged” the attack. “Wittingly or unwittingly, the ABC was complicit,” the Premier wrote. The scathing correspondence came a day after Mr Cook lashed “extremists seeking to terrorise” Ms O’Neill and her family and called ABC managing director David Anderson to raise his concerns directly. Four Disrupt Burrup Hub activists have been charged over their alleged plan to graffiti Ms O’Neill’s home and lock at least one of the group to her gate early on Tuesday morning. The quartet were joined outside the City Beach residence by a television crew and a journalist filming for the ABC’s Four Corners. Premier’s scathing letter to ABC chair over Four Corners crew The public broadcaster — which on Wednesday refused to condemn the actions of the protesters — released a statement saying Four Corners had received a tip directing them to the address “just prior” to the activists arriving and did not know it was a private home. The ABC denied its team had in any way “colluded with the activists”. Mr Cook wrote it was “difficult to comprehend how a TV crew could not understand how their presence at a private residence only encouraged these activists”. He added: “The fact that an ABC TV crew attended the private home of a WA citizen to document the committing of alleged criminal acts is cause for great concern and morally wrong.” The Australian reported Woodside have asked the ABC to explain how the activist group told its followers a July 25 climate meeting was to be “filmed by ABC’s Four Corners for a report on climate activism in Australia”.