GREENPEACE READY TO PROTEST
An Austrian student is one of 30 Greenpeace protesters preparing to disrupt an oil and gas company’s efforts to drill for hydrocarbons off Taranaki’s coast.
Magdalena Bischof was chained to the derrick of the Skandi Atlantic support ship, operated by Austrian oil company OMV, at Port of Timaru earlier this week, helping delay the ship’s departure for more than two days.
Bischof now planned head to Port Taranaki, where the ship is expected to dock, and protest the company’s intentions to drill for oil in the Taranaki Basin.
She will be among a group travelling by mini van to New Plymouth, picking up supporters along the way, to join Greenpeace’s three-day protest outside OMV headquarters from Monday.
‘‘It’s important to confront OMV’s operations in New
Zealand to show Austrians just what their national oil company is up to in the faraway oceans of the Pacific,’’ she said.
‘‘Like millions of people around the world, Austrians have also taken to the streets in their hundreds of thousands to demand action on climate change.
‘‘OMV is one of just 100 companies that have caused more than two-thirds of the world’s climate emissions. In Austria, we’re not OK with this.
‘‘As well as confronting OMV back at home, we want to show support to the resistance against OMV here in New Zealand.’’
Port Taranaki chief executive Guy Roper said the company, for security reasons, did not publicly discuss its security arrangements.
OMV spokesman said the company respected the right of New Zealanders to protest and to speak their mind. It asked protesters to be lawful and safe when having their say, he said. In 2018 three Greenpeace protesters who illegally boarded a support vessel docked at Port Taranaki were fined $750 each. In 2012 actress Lucy Lawless was arrested after occupying the Noble Discoverer drill ship for 70 hours.