Protester’s efforts are rock solid

A 52-year-old Broome woman who locked herself to a drill rig for 37 hours in protest against land clearing at James Price Point avoided conviction after Magistrate Colin Roberts said she had suffered enough by spending the weekend in custody.

On Monday morning, Broome Magistrates Court was told Marian Lester, who had no previous convictions, crawled onto a flatbed trailer and secured herself to the drill rig about noon on Friday, August 26.

She remained with arms aloft on Cape Leveque Road close to the Manari Road turnoff for the next 37 hours, refusing to unlock herself or to comply with a move-on notice issued by police.

Two other women who secured themselves to a drum filled with concrete and another man who locked himself to a truck are likely to appear in court later this month.

Woodside was forced to stop work for the duration of the protest and roadblocks were put in place.

Ms Lester finally freed herself about 4.30pm Saturday, negating the need for specialist police to be flown from Perth.

She was taken to hospital to be treated for dehydration and suffered “a splitting headache” while in custody after being charged.

Ms Lester pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity but refused to comply with bail conditions which meant she had to stay at least 500m away from the protest site, meaning she was held in custody over the weekend.

Her lawyer, Tom Allen, said his client had a deep connection to the Kimberley and had committed the protest action as a “non-violent act of last resort”.

“She felt there was no other course of conduct,” Mr Allen said.

Sergeant Matt Barker said protest actions were placing a significant strain on police resources in Broome.

Mr Roberts told Ms Lester there was a “fine line between protesting and when it becomes a criminal offence”.

“You should have known when to stop… you paid the ultimate price,” he said.

Several other protesters involved in the action also appeared in court this morning. Mr Roberts accepted a request to remove all bail conditions requiring protester Angela Parrish, 43, to keep away from the blockade until her next court appearance after accepting her verbal undertaking not to engage in protest activities.

Ms Parrish was charged with obstructing the free passage of vehicles and refusing to supply her name and address to police.

Mr Allen told the court Parrish had no fixed address in Broome and intended to live at the blockade site, but would be there “merely as an observer”.

Cameron Stewart Johnson, 41, was stood down pending legal advice after being charged with obstructing police and breaching bail.