Emma Sangalli’s heart still stops every time she sees a police car.

“It’s a feeling in your gut like panic. Total panic.

“It’s hard not to believe that you’re a criminal, that you’re deserving of this,” the Australian climate activist says.

Last month, the 25-year-old had her home in Western Australia raided by counter-terrorism police.

Her alleged crime – helping to flood a global fossil fuel giant’s office with non-toxic gas.

Stench gas, which smells like rotten eggs, is let off in mines to alert workers of danger. In this case, it was used by protesters to empty the Perth headquarters of Woodside Energy, to highlight the climate crisis.

Australia’s largest oil and gas firm says the protests targeting its brand are “unlawful” activities by “extreme groups”.

But environmental campaigners say disruptive protest is key to their mission.

Meanwhile, lawyers warn that the response to climate activism in Australia has become “increasingly militarised”.
‘Unlawful acts’
Ms Sangalli says officers from Western Australia’s State Security Investigation Group (SSIG) – whose duties include counter-terrorism – searched her home for hours, looking for evidence of her involvement in the Woodside protest.

Despite facing no formal charges and not being present at the gas evacuation, she was forced to watch as her personal items were seized – including phones and laptops – and a male officer flicked through her diary.

“That was the most painful part,” she told the BBC.

“Violated is a good word for it. You’re rendered powerless.”

The activist has been involved with two climate protest groups – the global Extinction Rebellion, and the more local Disrupt Burrup Hub, which campaigns against fossil fuel projects on the state’s Burrup Peninsula