Two Greenpeace Australia Pacific activists have been charged after occupying, from Saturday into Sunday, the floating production unit at Woodside’s Scarborough field off Western Australia. Australian Border Force, WA Police and the offshore regulator NOPSEMA said on Monday the charge was “interfering with offshore petroleum installations or operations”, which carries a maximum of ten years in prison. The men, 48 and 52, are due at Karratha Magistrates Court on Monday. A charge is not a conviction.

Greenpeace says four people left the Rainbow Warrior at 05:45 AWST on Saturday 17 October, climbed the FPU and unfurled banners: “Stop Woodside’s Dirty Gas. Save Scott Reef.” ABC puts the platform about 200 km offshore; AAP, 375 km from Karratha. Two people stayed overnight. On Sunday a police helicopter landed on the deck; the activists unclipped themselves and were taken into custody in the afternoon.

AAP describes the FPU as a 70,000-tonne floating platform. Four activists launched; two remain charged on Monday. The rest of the Rainbow Warrior crew was not named, in the joint statement, on the charge sheet. We are not inventing names: police gave ages, not identities.

Woodside halted operations for the protest. The company, quoted by AAP, denies it was peaceful: “dangerous, reckless and illegal”, a risk to crew, responders and the environment. WA Premier Roger Cook called it a “dangerous act” that endangers protesters and workers. Greenpeace holds the line of a peaceful protest. Authorities say they are still investigating.

The occupation is at Scarborough. The protest is against the Browse project, near Scott Reef, which ABC values at A$48.7 billion, Australia’s largest undeveloped gas resource. Greenpeace speaks of up to 57 toxic wells around the reef — the organisation’s figure, not a permit we have seen. The reef is described as oceanic, with green turtles and threatened species; the government, CEO David Ritter says, must choose between saving it and an industrial zone.

On Monday morning other protesters gathered at Woodside’s Perth headquarters with a 47-metre petition that Ritter says carries half a million signatures. The timing overlaps the Global Citizen Now conference in the city. Goldring, the ledger track, is a thin recap; the facts held here are ABC, AAP and Greenpeace’s own notices. We are not mixing in Russian gas. This is not a court verdict.

Image: NASA, Scott Reef and Seringapatam, 29 November 1996, STS-80, public domain, Wikimedia Commons. Not the 2026 FPU.

Sources consulted: Greenpeace activists charged after Woodside Scarborough offshore gas rig stunt — ABC News; Activists in custody after scaling Woodside gas rig — AAP.