Two people in custody after protest at offshore Woodside gas platform

Australian Border Force responds to Greenpeace protest at Woodside's Scarborough gas platform Two people are in police custody after occupying an offshore Woodside gas platform about 200 kilometres off Western Australia's coast to protest against the company's gas operations. An Australian Border Force (ABF) spokesperson said they were working with federal and state agencies to respond to the situation after activists occupied the rig overnight and disrupted the gas giant's operations. Images shared by environmental advocacy group Greenpeace Australia Pacific show its activists scaling a Woodside gas platform and hanging a banner in protest of the company's planned gas project at Scott Reef. Greenpeace said four protesters travelled to the platform early Saturday morning, and two of them set up "temporary hanging tents" to occupy the platform for "as long as possible". On Sunday afternoon Greenpeace said two of its activists had been taken into police custody. "Special police forces landed a helicopter on the [platform] at around 11:30am AWST," Greenpeace said. "The activists safely removed themselves from their equipment before being taken into police custody around 1pm." Woodside confirmed the protest had disrupted operations at the rig, which forms part of the company's $12.5 billion Scarborough natural gas project. "Pre-commissioning activities at Scarborough have been paused as part of routine procedures following the unauthorised access," a spokesperson said. Scott Reef is Australia's largest standalone oceanic reef and a refuge for thousands of aquatic creatures and shorebirds — Woodside's plans have been heavily contested by environmental groups opposed to gas developments in the area. Woodside said Greenpeace's activists had "deliberately and unlawfully" accessed the floating production unit and had "not only endangered their own safety, but that of Woodside staff". "Greenpeace's actions have triggered a significant, potentially costly and entirely avoidable response, requiring Western Australian resources to be mobilised to manage the safety, security and operational consequences of their actions," a Woodside spokesperson said. In a statement, one of the Greenpeace activists, Sakyo Noda, refuted the claim that new gas production was necessary to help the world decarbonise, an argument often used by the industry and the WA government. "We shouldn't be allowing fossil fuel companies like Woodside to extract new fossil fuels, let alone at extraordinary places like Scott Reef," Ms Noda said. Greenpeace Australia Pacific CEO David Ritter said the activists were "highly trained and experienced". "The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to a healthy democracy," he said.