A magistrate has commended high-profile NSW environmental activist Violet CoCo’s protest activity but said she had gone “too far” defacing a Perth police station with spray paint.
Deanna “Violet” Maree CoCo, 32, was convicted and fined $200 after she admitted spray painting four yellow Woodside Energy logos on the front windows of the Perth Police Centre a day earlier.
The Western Australian magistrates court was told CoCo’s actions at the police station were an act of solidarity with local campaigners targeted by police amid an escalating crackdown on protesters.
It included CoCo attempting to use super glue to adhere her arm to the window before police arrested and charged her with criminal damage or destruction of property on Wednesday.
After listening to the fact, Magistrate Matthew Walton said CoCo appeared to have “legitimate personal beliefs”.
“It is noble and commendable people have strong personal views,” he said on Thursday.
“It’s a fundamental tenet of western democracy … a functioning democracy … it should be supported.
“You don’t have to go too far abroad to see the restrictions on personal freedoms and activism.
“In a lot of regards you should be commended, however, you breached the law … you went too far on this occasion.”
CoCo was ordered to pay $500 in damages.
“I encourage to you to do it but you should be encouraged to do it in a lawful manner,” Mr Walton said.
“It should be something held to be very precious to all of us.”
Activist group Disrupt Burrup Hub on Wednesday said CoCo’s actions at the police station were an act of solidarity with local campaigners targeted by police amid an escalating crackdown on protesters.
It said environmental campaigners have been subject to increasing police overreach in recent months in response to a campaign targeting Woodside’s Burrup Hub project.
This has allegedly included house raids, data seizure and excessive charges after activists sprayed the Woodside logo on a famous Fredrick McCubbin painting at the WA Art Gallery and WA’s parliament building.
CoCo was among the first people charged after the NSW parliament hiked penalties and expanded the reach of laws targeting those who block traffic on major routes.
The NSW District Court in March wiped her 15-month prison sentence for parking a truck on the Harbour Bridge and blocking a lane during morning peak traffic in April 2022, which was part of an environmental protest against climate inaction.
She was was issued with a 12-month conditional release order after the court heard she had initially been imprisoned on false information from NSW Police.
Disrupt Burrup Hub has called for industrial development on the Burrup Peninsula, about 30km west of Karratha in the Pilbara region, to be stopped, including Woodside Energy’s expansion of the Pluto gas plant.
The Burrup Peninsula, known as Murujuga to traditional owners, contains the largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs in the world.
– AAP
