Australian whistleblower disappeard by ASIO

[Magda Hassan]

The involvement of Martin Ferguson, a former advisor to Woodside Energy who went on to become the Energy Minister in former Labor government, goes some way to explaining Labor voting with the LNP to block the Green's motion in Parliament today for the Attorney General to explain the ASiIO raids. Ferguson was replaced by Gary Gray who was formerly an advisor to Woodside.

WikiLeaks: BHP and Chevron say Woodside forced deal on Kimberley LNG plant

• By Robert Burton-Bradley
  
• news.com.au
  
• September 01, 2011 9:41AM
  

James Price Point, north of Broome in Western Australia is to be the site of a multibillion dollar gas plant which energy companies say they were forced to choose according to US embassy cables. Picture: Rod Harvigsen


ENERGY companies involved in a $30 billion gas development believed they were blackmailed into accepting a controversial site for a gas plant in the Kimberley, diplomatic cables reveal.

The details emerged in US diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks about the intensely controversial Browse Basin liquefied natural gas project that looks set to be processed at the environmentally sensitive James Price Point area in the Kimberley.

The site has been the scene of an ongoing battle between Indigenous land owners and environmentalist on the one side and Woodside and the West Australian and Federal governments on the other. The project is awaiting final approval form the Federal Goverment.

The leaked cable revealed several companies involved in the project were concerned that they would be pushed out of lucrative oil and gas deals by the federal government unless they used the James Price Point site which was favoured by Woodside.




The cable warned that government pressure was forcing the other partners to either walk away from the project or accept the proposed James Price Point facility.

The leaked cable comes this week as the federal government decided to include the Kimberley on the national heritage list excluding the James Price Point site, allowing the development of the processing plant.

The cable was sent from the US embassy in Canberra sent on December 11, 2009, and followed a decision by the Minister for Resources Martin Ferguson on December 4, that the Browse Basin LNG project partners Woodside, BHP, BP, Chevron and Shell must develop a plan to produce LNG within 120 days, as a condition for extending for three years their retention leases on gas fields in the project.

Australian Petroleum Producers and Explorers Association (APPEA) Director for Exploration and Access Ranga Parimala told the US, "the decision was an unprecedented interference' by the government in a project, intended to force Browse partners to choose Woodside's preferred development pathway."

"In Parimala's view," the cable continued, "the Browse partners would have no chance to develop a credible alternative in 120 days and would either accept the James Price Point plan or seek to walk away from the project."

Woodside's chosen site requires cutting through native vegetation and dredging parts of the sea bed and has attracted serious opposition from locals and environmentalists who argue it will destroy part of the Kimberley area which contains vast tracts of pristine wilderness and a number of threatened species. The other partners favoured a site in the already industrialised Pilbara region near Karratha further to the West.

Chevron's External Affairs Manager for Wheatstone, Mike Edmondson, according to the cables, told the US Consul General in Perth "the decisions reflected Ferguson's long-standing views on "use it or lose it" provisions and Woodside's lobbying to put pressure on its partners," and said "the decisions are unprecedented and concerning."

BHP Billiton Vice President for Government Relations Bernie Delaney was also quoted in the cable: "told us that his firm is strongly opposed to the changes in retention leases, which are likely to push companies such as Chevron and BHP to use existing Woodside infrastructure in the Northwest Shelf, and to develop the new James Price Point complex."

The Cable concluded that, "The clear winner in the initial set of decisions by Ferguson is Woodside, whose reluctant JV partners in two projects will likely be forced to accept Woodside's two preferred development options.

Minister Ferguson's Energy Advisor at the time, Tracy Winters, reportedly said that the government "would not allow companies to build portfolio investments by sitting on Australian resources over a long term" the Cable stated.

"Winters suggested it would be a good thing if some of the most reluctant partners pulled out of contentious and slow-developing deals, as there are plenty of investors ready to fill in their places.'"

Kevin Blatchford from the group Save the Kimberley believes the push for a processing plant at the James Price Point is part of a wider plan to open up the rest of the Kimberley to industrialisation.
"We believe the reason why this site being pushed is from political persuasion to power up further development of the Kimberley area and open the area up to other industry.

"They knew early in the piece there would be significant opposition to placing this anywhere on the coast, especially when have alternatives there's Karratha down there's already an LNG plant there that's approved for that type of development.

"We also know that Martin Ferguson is heavily pushing behind the scenes for this because this will open other resources in the area.

A media spokeswoman for Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said the Government did not comment on "leaked confidential documents."

Woodside spokeswoman Laura Hammer said the company would only say that their current partners were happy with the project.

"The Browse Joint Venture partners have all agreed to fund the current front-end engineering and design activities for the Browse LNG Development to be in a position for a final investment decision in mid-2012," she said.

Gillard government knew of the spying also. But Gillard such a US lackey. Quite likely to be US involvement here. She refused to renegotiate the Treaty (CMATS) and E. Timor went public with the spying allegations and declared the Treaty invalid and took Australia to the Hague for arbitration.
Paywalled.

Aussie spies accused of bugging Timor cabinet

• Leo Shanahan
  
• The Australian
  
• May 29, 2013 12:00AM
  
• 4 comments
  

AUSTRALIA'S overseas spy agency has been accused of breaking into the cabinet rooms of the East Timorese government under the instruction of then foreign minister Alexander Downer and covertly recording the Timorese foreign minister and officials.

The East Timorese government claims that the Australian Secret Intelligence Service conducted the operation in Dili during the 2004 negotiations over a treaty that governs billions of dollars in gas revenue between the two nations - and which Timor now claims is invalid.