Australia: Howard Government Offered Oil Firm Millions to Sue Greenpeace

SYDNEY, Australia, October 4, 2004 (ENS) – The government of Prime Minister John Howard offered a multi-million dollar subsidy to shale oil company Southern Pacific Petroleum (SPP) on the condition that the company take legal action against Greenpeace, the Australian branch of the international environmental organization has discovered. The plan to use taxpayers' money to sue Greenpeace is documented in an internal Department of Industry, Tourism & Resources (DITR) email obtained by the environmental group under Freedom of Information legislation. The DITR email refers to a 2002 decision by the Federal Cabinet to provide SPP, the developer of the Stuart Shale Oil Project in Queensland, with a sales grant worth nearly $55 per barrel of shale oil or up to A$36.4 million annually. Written by Marie Taylor, DITR manager for refining and fuels, the email states, "…the Government's decision to put this arrangement in place was made subject to SPP taking legal action against Greenpeace…" The sales grant for exports was provided because SPP was unable to access a pre-existing subsidy for domestic sales as they could not find Australian buyers for their oil. SPP claimed this was due to Greenpeace's campaign against shale oil. "You might recall," wrote Taylor […]

Read More