New donation disclosures have revealed the Northern Territory Labor Party has pocketed almost $60,000 in donations from key gas industry players, just months out from a critical Territory election.
The next Northern Territory election will be held on 24 August, with NT Labor hoping to be re-elected for a third consecutive term. The election could have major significance for the growth of the Northern Territory gas industry, with as much as $10 billion in Beetalooo Basin fracking projects and a multi-billion-dollar gas hub under development.
According to recent donation disclosures published by the Northern Territory Electoral Commission, NT Labor has amassed sizeable donations from multiple gas developers since the last Territory election.
NT Labor has accepted donations from Japanese oil and gas company INPEX (donations totalling $15,950), Empire Energy ($4,000) and Imperial Oil and Gas ($3,000). Oil and gas lobby group APPEA has also chipped in $4,600, and the Minerals Council of Australia tipped a further $3,500 into NT Labor’s coffers.
However, the largest fossil fuel donation received by NT Labor was provided by fledgling Beetaloo Basin gas company Tamboran Resources, which has gifted a massive $28,000 ahead of the Territory election. While the precise timing of the donations has not been published, at least $22,000 of Tamboran’s donations have been made since the start of 2024.
Details of the donation come just months after the NT Labor government signed a major gas purchase agreement with Tamboran. Under the deal, the NT government has agreed to purchase up to 40 terajoules of gas a day from Tamboran – representing around two-thirds of NT’s gas consumption – starting in 2026 and potentially running until 2042.
When the gas purchase deal was announced in April, it was criticised by local environmental groups as amounting to a “carbon bomb”. The deal has even attracted criticism from other parts of the gas industry as the agreement was struck in the absence of a public tender process and before a financial investment decision was made on Tamboran’s gas development.
The NT government insists the cost of the gas purchase agreement remains “commercial-in-confidence” and that it was “the way negotiations happen around the supply of gas.”
Analysis of Tamboran’s gas extraction ambitions in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin undertaken by Climate Analytics suggests the company’s fracking projects could add as much as 10 to 13 per cent to Australia’s national emissions, and would “wipe out the benefits of moving our entire light vehicle fleet to electric by the mid-2030s three times over.”
When queried about the purpose of the sizeable donation to NT Labor, a spokesperson for Tamboran Resources suggested the $28,000 gift was part of efforts to communicate its views to “government stakeholders”.
“Like many Australian corporates, Tamboran contributes to a wide variety of community and sporting groups and also to both sides of politics,” a Tamboran Resources spokesperson said.
“From time-to-time we also attend events as part of ensuring our company’s position is clearly communicated to government stakeholders.”
“Tamboran are totally compliant with the AEC’s disclosure requirements for donations and also in the Territory.”
The Labor Party has struggled to reconcile its positions on climate change and the future of the gas industry – at Federal, State and Territory levels. Labor has sought to contrast itself from the Liberal and National parties by emphasising its more ambitious climate action agenda, but has continued to facilitate the growth of Australia’s fossil gas industries.
Federal Labor has also been a major financial beneficiary of gas industry donations, as reported in February.
NT Labor leader and chief minister Eva Lawler was contacted for a response, but none was received. Likewise, no response was forthcoming from Country Liberal Party (CLP) leader Lia Finocchiaro.
CLP taps key gas lobbyist
The CLP itself has received a total of $11,000 from oil and gas donors in the lead-up to this year’s NT election. Four fossil fuel aligned donors have provided funds to the CLP: lobby group Australian Energy Producers, gas companies Empire Energy and Top End Energy, as well as businessman Andrew Liveris.
Liveris, who previously served on the board of fossil fuel giant Saudi Aramco, was a chief architect of the Morrison government’s controversial ‘gas-led recovery’ agenda while serving as an adviser to the National COVID-19 Co-ordination Commission. Liveris also supported the NT government in developing plans for the Middle Arm gas hub.
A Guardian Australia investigation found that Liveris’ interventions as a gas industry lobbyist were critical to securing Federal Labor’s support for $1.5 billion in taxpayer funding for the Middle Arm project.
Donation disclosures show Liveris making a $2,750 donation to the CLP ahead of the NT election.
NT Greens’ candidate for the Fannie Bay electorate, Suki Dorras-Walker, called on Eva Lawler and Lia Finocchiaro to explain the circumstances around their respective parties receiving such hefty financial backing from gas industry figures.
“The big corporations trying to frack the Territory are doing their best to buy this election. We can’t let them. Eva Lawler has made her choice and her party has picked fracking over clean water, a safe climate, and the future Territorians want for our home,” Dorras-Walker said.
”Eva Lawler has questions to answer about why Tamboran gave NT Labor such a massive donation so close to landing their secret gas sale deal with the NT Government. It just looks like they’ve bought themselves a good deal.”
“Labor is the worst offender with gas donations, but the big gas corporations are hedging their bets with big donations to the CLP. Andrew Liveris is an architect of the Middle Arm gas hub scheme, and he looks to be lining up for a seat at the table if the CLP wins a majority, along with Empire, who are still trying to frack near the Gulf,” Dorras-Walker added.
The donation disclosure data shows the NT Greens has only received donations from individuals or from the Australian Greens national body.
“The Greens don’t take corporate donations. We’re the only party in the Territory that’s against fracking. We need a Green balance of power after this election to expose the secret deals, ban corporate donations and finally end gas influence in our politics,” Dorras-Walker said.
This article was originally published on Tempests and Terawatts. Republished here with permission
