2026-03-09
Dealing with extremist terror, opposing new gas developments and exploding the myth that WA’s LNG exports help Asia reduce their emissions
By Hon Sophie McNeill, MLC
It has been a very busy few months with a lot of events that need responding to and ongoing work. The end of 2025 was an incredibly busy and challenging time. The horrific events at Bondi were a devastating end to the year. The attempted Terror attack on Invasion Day was a confronting and challenging event and I am proud of how our Greens (WA) team responded. I would like to extend a huge thanks to everyone in the party and state offices for your ongoing support and collaboration through what was a very busy and testing time for all of us.
The State Development Bill
In a huge joint Greens effort we took on the government to interrogate and attempt to amend their State Development Bill that could be used to fast track huge fossil fuel projects and even has the ability to fast track nuclear power in WA. The government prioritised this bill on behalf of business interests and added an extra week of parliament to ram it through, but we took them to task and found out that all of our concerns were legitimate in a marathon sitting to 3am in the morning.
Dongarra Against Seismic Blasting
Late last year I went up to Dongara to take part in a huge community event as part of their Dongarra against Seismic blasting campaign. Pilot Energy had planned to carry out seismic blasting a short distance off the coast of Dongarra with significant impact on marine life. In a huge win this blasting has been delayed but there is still a lot of work to do to get it stopped completely. More than 200 members of the community came to the forum. Of course there is more work to be done but it was great to be able to engage with the community and meet so many people with very legitimate concerns about this practice.
The horrific events at Bondi
It was confronting to hear the news of extremist terror that took place in Bondi at the end of last year. Having heard the horrific news in Bondi I quickly returned to Perth to pay my respects at Government House, donate blood and provide whatever support I could including attending a vigil hosted by Jews for Palestine. While there has been much vitriol and blame spread around after the attack it was heartening to have a strong, understanding and united community in the face of such horror.
Invasion Day
January was marred by the horrific terrorist attack at the Invasion Day rally in Perth. We are so lucky that nobody was injured, but this is a troubling reminder of some of the challenges we are facing and the importance of allyship in these times.
The Greens team worked together to provide support to the Invasion Day organisers and elders and help ensure their voices, experiences and demands were heard. As the political year begins we are facing increasing challenges from the far-right and we will not sit silently while they continue to persecute, scapegoat and endanger people in our communities.
Meetings throughout Asia for climate
I was fortunate to travel through Indonesia, Japan and South Korea to meet with the climate movement, politicians and experts and discuss the impact that WA’s LNG exports are having on these beautiful people, places and politics. It was an eye opening trip that really shone a light on the challenges facing all of us and the grip that the fossil fuel industry has on politics internationally. I have learned a lot and I plan to progress and expose the shocking influence that these companies have on our political decisions.
All of this is on top of the continuing work that we are doing in and out of parliament to shine a light on the issues that are too often ignored and continue to push for the changes that our Greens policies can create in the world.
Header photo: Bonding with climate activists in Indonesia