AUSTRALIA
Beetaloo Basin fracking: court bid launched to stop Coalition giving company $21m in grants for project
Action alleges federal minister’s grants decision for Northern Territory basin plan was unlawful and failed to ensure ‘proper’ use of public funds
Demonstrators outside of Empire Energy offices in Sydney in May oppose the company’s fracking plans for the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin. Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters
Christopher Knaus
@knausc
Thu 29 Jul 2021
Environmental groups will go to court in an attempt to stop resources minister Keith Pitt handing $21m in grants to a gas company seeking to frack the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory.
The Environment Centre Northern Territory (ECNT) and the Environmental Defenders Office on Thursday launched urgent proceedings in the federal court alleging the minister’s decision to award the grants to gas company Imperial Oil and Gas, a subsidiary of Empire Energy, was unlawful.
Australia’s reliance on gas exports questioned as Japan winds down fossil fuel power
According to court documents, it will be alleged that the minister failed to ensure the expenditure was a “proper” use of money and “efficient, effective, economical and ethical”, as required under public governance laws.
The case will argue the minister failed to consider the potential increased risk of climate change if the Beetaloo Basin is opened up to gas companies. It also argues the minister failed to examine the risk of publicly-funding gas projects, when the world is reducing fossil fuel use.
ECNT co-director Dr Kirsty Howey said the groups wanted to see “taxpayers money used wisely and with all the consequences being fully considered”.
“Granting $21 million to a private fossil fuel company should only be done after all care is taken to examine the impacts on climate change, the environment and the community,” Howey said.
Opening up Beetaloo to gas development is part of the Morrison government’s gas-led recovery plan. The Coalition set up the Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling Program to incentivise exploration in the basin, and the first three grants went to an Empire Energy subsidiary.
The groups are now asking for an undertaking that the money will not be transferred to Empire prior to the court deciding on the legality of the expenditure.
The Environmental Defenders Office chief executive, David Morris, said the case was about “whether the proper process has been followed”.
“Our client will argue that before making a decision to grant these funds, the relevant minister needed to make reasonable inquiries into a range of risks, including climate and economic risks, that may arise from the expenditure,” he said.
“We will argue on behalf of our client that the federal government did not make these reasonable inquiries, and thus the minister’s decision is invalid.”
Beetaloo Basin fracking plan: gas companies linked to tax secrecy havens and Liberal party, inquiry told
Pitt described the case as another example of “activists using the courts with baseless allegations to try and delay nationally important resources projects”.
“This latest case of green ‘lawfare’ declared on legitimate projects threatens to delay an estimated 6,000 new jobs being delivered for the Northern Territory along with around $37 billion on economic activity,” he said.
“Grants are provided to companies that possess the highly specialised skills to meet the challenges of developing the Basin as determined by an expert assessment panel.”
He said the grants were awarded in accordance with the grant guidelines.
Empire Energy was approached for a response.
Separately, a Senate inquiry into fracking the Beetaloo on Wednesday heard evidence about Empire and other grant recipients.
Empire’s chair is Paul Espie, a frequent Liberal donor and chair of the Liberal-aligned Menzies Research Centre.
Liberal senator Jane Hume has previously described Espie in parliament as a doyen of the party.
The company’s managing director, Alex Underwood, told a Senate inquiry on Wednesday that he had met with the federal energy minister, Angus Taylor, and praised the grants program in March, just prior to the grant guidelines being released.
The company has denied it lobbied Taylor to obtain grants or that Espie’s links to the party played any role whatsoever.
During Wednesday’s hearing senators also heard evidence about two other companies seeking to exploit the basin.
The not-for-profit group Publish What You Pay Australia investigated the corporate structures of both Sweetpea Petroleum and Falcon Oil and Gas Australia, finding both had links to the tax secrecy jurisdiction of Delaware.
Falcon, it told the inquiry, was linked to Russian plutocrat and Vladimir Putin ally Viktor Vekselberg, who held a 16% stake in its parent company.
Christopher Knaus
@knausc
Thu 29 Jul 2021
Environmental groups will go to court in an attempt to stop resources minister Keith Pitt handing $21m in grants to a gas company seeking to frack the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory.
The Environment Centre Northern Territory (ECNT) and the Environmental Defenders Office on Thursday launched urgent proceedings in the federal court alleging the minister’s decision to award the grants to gas company Imperial Oil and Gas, a subsidiary of Empire Energy, was unlawful.
Australia’s reliance on gas exports questioned as Japan winds down fossil fuel power
According to court documents, it will be alleged that the minister failed to ensure the expenditure was a “proper” use of money and “efficient, effective, economical and ethical”, as required under public governance laws.
The case will argue the minister failed to consider the potential increased risk of climate change if the Beetaloo Basin is opened up to gas companies. It also argues the minister failed to examine the risk of publicly-funding gas projects, when the world is reducing fossil fuel use.
ECNT co-director Dr Kirsty Howey said the groups wanted to see “taxpayers money used wisely and with all the consequences being fully considered”.
“Granting $21 million to a private fossil fuel company should only be done after all care is taken to examine the impacts on climate change, the environment and the community,” Howey said.
Opening up Beetaloo to gas development is part of the Morrison government’s gas-led recovery plan. The Coalition set up the Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling Program to incentivise exploration in the basin, and the first three grants went to an Empire Energy subsidiary.
The groups are now asking for an undertaking that the money will not be transferred to Empire prior to the court deciding on the legality of the expenditure.
The Environmental Defenders Office chief executive, David Morris, said the case was about “whether the proper process has been followed”.
“Our client will argue that before making a decision to grant these funds, the relevant minister needed to make reasonable inquiries into a range of risks, including climate and economic risks, that may arise from the expenditure,” he said.
“We will argue on behalf of our client that the federal government did not make these reasonable inquiries, and thus the minister’s decision is invalid.”
Beetaloo Basin fracking plan: gas companies linked to tax secrecy havens and Liberal party, inquiry told
Pitt described the case as another example of “activists using the courts with baseless allegations to try and delay nationally important resources projects”.
“This latest case of green ‘lawfare’ declared on legitimate projects threatens to delay an estimated 6,000 new jobs being delivered for the Northern Territory along with around $37 billion on economic activity,” he said.
“Grants are provided to companies that possess the highly specialised skills to meet the challenges of developing the Basin as determined by an expert assessment panel.”
He said the grants were awarded in accordance with the grant guidelines.
Empire Energy was approached for a response.
Separately, a Senate inquiry into fracking the Beetaloo on Wednesday heard evidence about Empire and other grant recipients.
Empire’s chair is Paul Espie, a frequent Liberal donor and chair of the Liberal-aligned Menzies Research Centre.
Liberal senator Jane Hume has previously described Espie in parliament as a doyen of the party.
The company’s managing director, Alex Underwood, told a Senate inquiry on Wednesday that he had met with the federal energy minister, Angus Taylor, and praised the grants program in March, just prior to the grant guidelines being released.
The company has denied it lobbied Taylor to obtain grants or that Espie’s links to the party played any role whatsoever.
During Wednesday’s hearing senators also heard evidence about two other companies seeking to exploit the basin.
The not-for-profit group Publish What You Pay Australia investigated the corporate structures of both Sweetpea Petroleum and Falcon Oil and Gas Australia, finding both had links to the tax secrecy jurisdiction of Delaware.
Falcon, it told the inquiry, was linked to Russian plutocrat and Vladimir Putin ally Viktor Vekselberg, who held a 16% stake in its parent company.
Beetaloo Basin fracking plan: gas companies linked to tax secrecy havens and Liberal party, inquiry told
One company given grants worth $21m for drilling despite not having Northern Territory environmental approvals, senators hear
One company given grants worth $21m for drilling despite not having Northern Territory environmental approvals, senators hear
A protest outside Empire Energy’s offices in Sydney in May against the company’s fracking plans for Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory. Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters
Christopher Knaus
Wed 28 Jul 2021
The gas companies seeking to frack the Beetaloo Basin have been accused of sharing links to tax secrecy jurisdictions, the Liberal party and Russian plutocrats, a Senate inquiry has heard.
Opening up the Northern Territory to fracking is a key part of the Morrison government’s “gas-led recovery”, and the commonwealth is incentivising exploration through the $50m Beetaloo cooperative drilling program.
Earlier this month, the first three grants from that program were given to a subsidiary of Empire Energy, a company chaired by frequent Liberal donor Paul Espie. Espie is the also chair of the Liberal-aligned Menzies Research Centre and has been described by Liberal senator Jane Hume as a doyen of the party.
A Senate inquiry into fracking in the Beetaloo Basin on Wednesday heard that Empire Energy was given the grants, worth $21m, to drill at three sites in the Beetaloo, despite still waiting on the necessary environmental approvals from the Northern Territory government.
Coalition granted $21m to Liberal party donor to frack Beetaloo Basin
The inquiry also heard that Empire executives met with the federal energy minister, Angus Taylor, on 10 March, prior to the announcement of the grant guidelines later that month.
“From memory, I may have told the minister that I believed it was a good policy and that it might incentivise an acceleration of activity,” Empire’s managing director, Alex Underwood, said. “But I can assure you there was no mention of seeking any kind of influence over the process.”
Asked by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young whether he believed Espie’s connections with the Liberal party helped the company obtain the grants, Underwood responded: “No, I do not. They played no role whatsoever in our applications for these grants. We follow due and proper process at all times.”
In October last year, the company invited Taylor to visit its first Beetaloo well, paying for a charter flight and a dinner. Espie was on the charter flight, the inquiry heard.
Empire was also asked about one of its larger shareholders, a company named Global Energy and Resources Development. The company was registered in the Caribbean and associated with (Michael) Tang Yan Tian, who the inquiry heard is the subject of an arrest warrant in Hong Kong relating to alleged insider trading.
Underwood said Empire, which is publicly-listed, did not have a good relationship with Global Energy and Resources Development.
“I have no control over whether or not that entity chooses to hold shares in our company,” he said.
Earlier, the inquiry heard about two other companies that are seeking to exploit the Beetaloo Basin: Sweetpea Petroleum and Falcon Oil and Gas Australia.
Both companies have been investigated by the not-for-profit group Publish What You Pay Australia.
It found that a Russian plutocrat and ally of Vladimir Putin, Viktor Vekselberg, held a 16% stake in Falcon’s parent company. One of its subsidiaries is registered in Delaware, a known tax secrecy jurisdiction.
The group’s spokesman, Clancy Moore, told the inquiry: “I would strongly urge the commonwealth not to be giving public money to companies with opaque ownership and worrying concerns around the ultimate owners, such as Falcon Oil and Gas.”
‘The living heart of Australia’: fracking plans threaten fragile channel country
Sweetpea Petroleum, the inquiry heard, appeared to be owned by a US investment firm that had recently created a shell company, Longview Petroleum LLC, in Delaware.
Parts of the corporate structure were registered to a two-story yellow brick building in downtown Wilmington, which is home to more than 285,000 companies, the inquiry heard.
Moore told the inquiry that Sweetpea’s parent company appeared not to have paid a small tax bill in Delaware.
“I would take the view that a company whose parent company appears not able to pay the few hundreds of dollars of tax to remain of good standing in Delaware should not be receiving valuable government revenue under the program at this stage,” he said.
Former Darwin lord mayor and Protect Country Alliance spokesman Graeme Sawyer told the inquiry that the industry had effectively captured the territory government.
“A former NT chief minister is now a consultant for the oil and gas industry, key government senior staff are people from the industry, and key people from the bureaucracy and advisory positions leave to work in the industry,” he said. “The revolving door is in full operation in the NT.”
Sawyer also said there was no informed consent from traditional owners in the area.
“There is no informed consent about fracking and the family groups that I have spoken to at length have recently reinforced their opposition at a meeting in Darwin in June. There was about 45 traditional owners there and I’d really encourage you to talk to them in detail about that notion of informed consent.”
Empire said it went to great lengths to ensure informed consent was obtained from traditional owners. It also said its projects would deliver significant economic benefits to the local region.
Christopher Knaus
Wed 28 Jul 2021
The gas companies seeking to frack the Beetaloo Basin have been accused of sharing links to tax secrecy jurisdictions, the Liberal party and Russian plutocrats, a Senate inquiry has heard.
Opening up the Northern Territory to fracking is a key part of the Morrison government’s “gas-led recovery”, and the commonwealth is incentivising exploration through the $50m Beetaloo cooperative drilling program.
Earlier this month, the first three grants from that program were given to a subsidiary of Empire Energy, a company chaired by frequent Liberal donor Paul Espie. Espie is the also chair of the Liberal-aligned Menzies Research Centre and has been described by Liberal senator Jane Hume as a doyen of the party.
A Senate inquiry into fracking in the Beetaloo Basin on Wednesday heard that Empire Energy was given the grants, worth $21m, to drill at three sites in the Beetaloo, despite still waiting on the necessary environmental approvals from the Northern Territory government.
Coalition granted $21m to Liberal party donor to frack Beetaloo Basin
The inquiry also heard that Empire executives met with the federal energy minister, Angus Taylor, on 10 March, prior to the announcement of the grant guidelines later that month.
“From memory, I may have told the minister that I believed it was a good policy and that it might incentivise an acceleration of activity,” Empire’s managing director, Alex Underwood, said. “But I can assure you there was no mention of seeking any kind of influence over the process.”
Asked by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young whether he believed Espie’s connections with the Liberal party helped the company obtain the grants, Underwood responded: “No, I do not. They played no role whatsoever in our applications for these grants. We follow due and proper process at all times.”
In October last year, the company invited Taylor to visit its first Beetaloo well, paying for a charter flight and a dinner. Espie was on the charter flight, the inquiry heard.
Empire was also asked about one of its larger shareholders, a company named Global Energy and Resources Development. The company was registered in the Caribbean and associated with (Michael) Tang Yan Tian, who the inquiry heard is the subject of an arrest warrant in Hong Kong relating to alleged insider trading.
Underwood said Empire, which is publicly-listed, did not have a good relationship with Global Energy and Resources Development.
“I have no control over whether or not that entity chooses to hold shares in our company,” he said.
Earlier, the inquiry heard about two other companies that are seeking to exploit the Beetaloo Basin: Sweetpea Petroleum and Falcon Oil and Gas Australia.
Both companies have been investigated by the not-for-profit group Publish What You Pay Australia.
It found that a Russian plutocrat and ally of Vladimir Putin, Viktor Vekselberg, held a 16% stake in Falcon’s parent company. One of its subsidiaries is registered in Delaware, a known tax secrecy jurisdiction.
The group’s spokesman, Clancy Moore, told the inquiry: “I would strongly urge the commonwealth not to be giving public money to companies with opaque ownership and worrying concerns around the ultimate owners, such as Falcon Oil and Gas.”
‘The living heart of Australia’: fracking plans threaten fragile channel country
Sweetpea Petroleum, the inquiry heard, appeared to be owned by a US investment firm that had recently created a shell company, Longview Petroleum LLC, in Delaware.
Parts of the corporate structure were registered to a two-story yellow brick building in downtown Wilmington, which is home to more than 285,000 companies, the inquiry heard.
Moore told the inquiry that Sweetpea’s parent company appeared not to have paid a small tax bill in Delaware.
“I would take the view that a company whose parent company appears not able to pay the few hundreds of dollars of tax to remain of good standing in Delaware should not be receiving valuable government revenue under the program at this stage,” he said.
Former Darwin lord mayor and Protect Country Alliance spokesman Graeme Sawyer told the inquiry that the industry had effectively captured the territory government.
“A former NT chief minister is now a consultant for the oil and gas industry, key government senior staff are people from the industry, and key people from the bureaucracy and advisory positions leave to work in the industry,” he said. “The revolving door is in full operation in the NT.”
Sawyer also said there was no informed consent from traditional owners in the area.
“There is no informed consent about fracking and the family groups that I have spoken to at length have recently reinforced their opposition at a meeting in Darwin in June. There was about 45 traditional owners there and I’d really encourage you to talk to them in detail about that notion of informed consent.”
Empire said it went to great lengths to ensure informed consent was obtained from traditional owners. It also said its projects would deliver significant economic benefits to the local region.
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