NADIA MITSOPOULOS: Well, what do you make of what unfolded early yesterday morning when climate activists from Disrupt Burrup Hub got personal and went to the home of Woodside CEO Meg O'Neill, where she lives with her partner and daughter? Now, police have charged four people, including Jesse Noakes and Gerard Mazza, with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. They're still in custody, those two are that I mentioned, and they will face court today. The other two have also been charged and they'll be in court in a couple of weeks. Now, you tell me if you think this is taking things a little too far on 1300 222 720. These protesters have been widely condemned by the Woodside boss for their intimidating and threatening action, as well as leaders in the resource industry and politicians. They've all had a bit to say, including Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King, who is with me now.

Good morning and thank you very much for your time.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: A pleasure, Nadia. Good to be with you.

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: Have you spoken to Meg O'Neill about what happened yesterday and how she felt?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yes, I have. As soon as I found out, I made contact with Meg because I wanted to see if she was all right. This kind of trespass on her land and is just frightening. I can't imagine what it would be like to be in her position to have that happen in a clearly planned setup by these extremists. So, I called her to see check on her welfare, quite frankly, and she was kind enough to have a little chat with me.

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: Does she sound shaken up? I mean, she's made public statements saying that she felt threatened, her family felt threatened and also felt intimidated.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yeah. Well, I think her public statements speak for themselves and they clearly reflect her frame of mind at the moment, and that's understandable, given what has happened. And it is clearly behaviour that does seek to intimidate and frighten people in their home, her and her family. And I condemn these actions utterly.

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: What do you make of what they did and the fact that they went to a home? Did you think that it took things a little too far?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Oh, it’s way too far. This is beyond the pale to go to someone's house and – to go to someone's house for such activity, you have to plan these things. So, I wonder what other activity they've been undertaking. And clearly, given the police are involved, it's potentially criminal activity. Obviously, it's before court, so we'll wait to hear what happens there. But this is not legitimate protest activity and I've been to rallies and protests myself and I don't object to them one little bit, but when it spills over into this kind of invasion of people's private world and their homes, where they've got every right to feel safe, it's just unacceptable. And I've had threats against me as well from certain groups, so I have some understanding of what people go through when these things happen and it's entirely unacceptable.

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: I'm talking to Madeleine King this morning; she is the Federal Resources Minister and of course the member for Brand here in WA. And I will get to your calls and a lot of you want to share your thoughts on this, this morning on 1300 222 720. And there may be some people out there and we will hear from the group behind this protest shortly as well. There may be Minister, some people saying, well, they're exercising their right to protest.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Everyone has a right to protest. They don't have a right to trespass on people's land and their homes and make them scared to be in their own homes. So, this is not a legitimate protest activity. These are people who consistently seek to upend the laws of this state and our country for that matter, seeking publicity and aggrandisement of themselves. And now, while they have their cause – may be legitimate in its background, we all want to get to the same place. I'm an advocate for reaching net zero and taking action on climate change and so are they. But they are taking this way too far. Going into that criminal world of trespassing on people's property makes them frightened to live at home. And in anyone's imagination, that cannot be acceptable way to voice what you think about a certain matter.

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: It's interesting. I'm getting a couple of texts, well, a lot of text messages and I got to say most of them don't agree with what the protesters did. But there's this one from Jim and he says, look, it might be a step too far, but our younger generation, including my 26-year-old daughter, are very, very concerned about the health of our plant - our planet. Woodside are not on their favourite list. And I just wonder if this is a new generation, an increasing frustration and obviously we know that this is a group, obviously that does take things to the extreme to get noticed. Is this about frustration and frustration towards your government too, I guess, because there are people that don't feel you're doing enough in this space?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, we're certainly doing more than the last government did. For one, we accept the science of climate change and are taking action on it as legislated extensively to ensure that companies, including Woodside and others, do reduce their emissions and come within those policies. And I might add, these companies have committed to net zero emissions by 2050, way before the Commonwealth Government did. So, they are the ones that will get us to net zero by 2050. And I understand people want things to move along more quickly than they think they are. And your listener, Jim, has said his daughter's worried. I'm worried about the planet too, you know, I’m not immune to these concerns but – and they're very real and I appreciate younger people, they worry about these things, and we all do. But the thing is, you should protest, and you should protest peacefully, and we do listen to protests that are peaceful. They do get our attention. I mean, I get emails all the time or I get phone calls, or I get peaceful protests outside my office, and I don't object to them, and I do hear these people and I hear their concerns. So, there is absolutely no need to trespass on people's property and make them frightened in their home to make a point. And in doing so, all they are doing is promoting themselves and doing worse for their cause. And everyone should be aware of that. This is not helping their cause one little bit.

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: How is it not helping their cause? Because it gets them publicity, right? And we're talking about it. We're talking about it.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yeah. Well, I'm talking about it because I'm offended by it, because I worry for other people in public office that – in public facing roles like Meg, but others that could be now subject to this kind of invasion of their property and their home. So, what it leads to is Australia potentially becoming the place where public figures need to surround themselves with security all the time. I've had security details to go to a conference in Adelaide a number of times and that's weird, right? That is not on, that should not be the norm in this country. But actions like these people are making it the norm where we could potentially find public figures become inaccessible to the public, so they hear less. And that's not good for democracy. So, I really think these people are focused on themselves more than the issue at hand, I really do. And they don't seek out peaceful meetings with Woodside. They certainly don't, they instead seek out actions like –

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: They probably wouldn't get them, would they? I can't see Meg O'Neill would make time to speak to these people, to be fair.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Woodside's got 4000 employees, I'm sure they would get some time, but I can't speak to Woodside. But I just think - and I'm sure most people agree that this is not the way to make your point. Everyone deserves to feel safe in their home and this makes us less safe.

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: I appreciate your time. Thank you. Madeleine King there, the Federal Resources Minister. She's also the member for Brand here in WA. Keen to know where you sit on this.