Climate activist Joana Partyka spray-paints a Frederick McCubbin painting (Image: Disrupt Burrup Hub)
Climate activist Joana Partyka spray-paints a Frederick McCubbin painting (Image: Disrupt Burrup Hub)

Western Australia police listed a “short pink skirt” and a “white T-shirt” among eight items to be searched for during the home raid of Western Australian artist and Disrupt Burrup Hub climate activist Joana Partyka.

“It’s hard to justify a warrant that reaches into a protester’s wardrobe and seeks to seize their personal effects,” Greens Senator David Shoebridge told Crikey. “I would hope if the police wanted to get one of my shirts, that we could have a civil exchange, and they wouldn’t need to bring six heavily armed police to seize a bit of my wardrobe.”

In a statement to Crikey, Western Australia Police Force confirmed that officers from the state security investigations group had conducted a search warrant “in relation to an ongoing investigation” at an address in Perth on Friday.

Partyka, who lives alone, told Crikey six police officers turned up to her Perth apartment at 8am and presented her with a search warrant.

The document detailed suspected offences of “criminal damage” and “conspiracy to commit an indictable offence”, as well as an eight-point list of of-interest things. These included anything in relation to “Disrupt Burrup Hub”, any electronic device capable of “capturing electronic images and communicating via electromagnetic means”, anything with the ability to discharge paint, stencils, a pair of sunglasses and the aforementioned outfit.

As Partyka recalled, the initial door-knocker was a plain-clothes police officer and the only person visible when she opened the door. But “around the corner, there were five more. All the other cops were hidden. And apart from the first guy in plain clothes, all the others were wearing proper vests. It was pretty confronting.”

She said the police spent an hour in her home, photographing and/or collecting her belongings — her laptop, phone, notebook and stencil scraps (offcuts destined for the bin) were among the items they took with them. The notebook was returned on Sunday, but police gave her no indication when she would get her devices back, adding that her failure to relinquish passwords had stalled the process.

The clothing in question matched the outfit Partyka was wearing at a Disrupt Barrup Hub protest action on February 21 at WA’s Parliament House. Tahlia Stohlarski was arrested and subsequently charged with one count of criminal damage for spray-painting six bright yellow Woodside logos across the front doors of Parliament. Partyka maintains she was there exclusively “as a support person” and “didn’t undertake any illegal activity”.

In January, Partyka was arrested for spray-painting the logo of oil and gas giant Woodside on to an iconic Frederick McCubbin painting at the Art Gallery of WA. She also glued her hands to the gallery walls in a bid to draw attention to oil and gas giant Woodside’s “ongoing desecration” of sacred Murujuga rock art on the Burrup Peninsula.

The 37-year-old pleaded guilty to criminal damage in the Perth Magistrates Court where she was convicted and fined $2637. Partyka was also ordered to pay $4821.08 compensation to the gallery.

“This is a protester who’d already pleaded guilty and had accepted a penalty for engaging in political protest,” Shoebridge said. “This is the next step by the police, and it has all the hallmarks of state-sanctioned intimidation.”

Shoebridge said the criminal justice system was meant to prevent the state from coming down on an individual for the same conduct “again and again and again”, but nationwide it continued to play out in reverse with state and territory governments using police powers and newly granted anti-protest laws to crack down on action in favour of extractive industries.

“The core of the complaints from these protesters and activists in WA is that Woodside has excessive control over the WA state government and indeed over the federal government. Well, this seems to be some pretty powerful proof of the core of their concerns,” Shoebridge said.

Partyka told Crikey that police scare tactics against her and the broader campaign to spook them into submission have only made her want to dig her heels in. But it’s still made a mark.  

“I have no idea what to expect next. Whether there’ll be charges pressed, whether they’ll turn up and arrest me, whether I’ll be detained. That wasn’t really made clear to me,” she said.

“I am freaked out. Every time I hear someone outside my apartment, I think, ‘Is that the cops?’ Every time I hear a noise at night, I think, ‘They’re going to come drag me out of bed and arrest me.’”

Were the police excessive? Let us know by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.