2026-05-05
Blowing the whistle on Woodside, followed by a gas chat, and trying to induce meaningful debate on the fuel crisis
By Hon Sophie McNeill, MLC
While parliament was not scheduled to sit in April, this month has been busy as we face the international and local realities of the US and Israel’s war on Iran and the consequent fuel crisis. This led to the government recalling Parliament ‒ something that rarely happens ‒ so the government could enact emergency powers to help them manage fuel supplies. The War in Iran also resulted in an increased spotlight on the LNG companies ripping off Australians and how much influence the WA Labor government has when it comes to sticking up for the profits of these companies rather than the communities they are elected to represent.
Woodside AGM
The Greens joined with activists and Environmentalists to successfully disrupt the Woodside AGM again this year, keeping the media and public focus on the harm that these fossil fuel companies do while pocketing excessive wealth from our natural resources. I blew the whistle (literally) on Woodside’s lies when it comes to the horrific and sustained climate and environmental damage that their projects and LNG exports are having on our state, country and planet.
As my federal colleague Senator Steph Hodgins-May asked the Woodside CEO “If giving Australians a fair return for their own gas makes your project unviable doesn’t that show that the model’s broken and depends on Australians effectively giving away their tax resources for free?” The answer of course is yes, the system is broken but unsurprisingly the moderator moved on without answering the substantive issues raised in the question.
Our Big Gas Chat
The day after the AGM we were so lucky to have close to 100 members of the community come down to Freo to listen to a panel discussion with Senator Steph Hodgins-May and Senator Pete Whish-Wilson. Among other things we discussed what is going on with the federal gas tax inquiry, how captured WA labor is from corporate fossil fuel interests and the terrible cost our precious places are already paying for this ongoing pollution.
Parliament’s refusal to debate the fuel crisis
When parliament was recalled earlier this month to table emergency orders, I moved a motion on behalf of your WA Greens team to debate the fuel crisis, how we got here and what governments at all levels could have done.
We called for the House to acknowledge the hardships of the fuel crisis on the people of WA; that the fuel crisis was the direct result of US and Israel’s illegal war on Iran, which has killed thousands of civilians across the Middle East; and that the Cook Labor government's failure to effectively support a transition away from fossil fuels over the last nine years has left Western Australians particularly exposed to this fuel supply shock.
The motion also called for urgent cost of living relief to households; budget measures that address WA’s transition off fossil fuels and support decarbonisation; and the government to end support for fossil fuel projects or expansions in WA as well as AUKUS and US military expansion in WA.
The entirety of parliament banded together to vote down this motion, leaving the Greens as the only party that was willing to spend the time and put in the work to do what our communities want us to do. We were creating an opportunity to hold the government accountable and disappointingly nobody in the parliament supported our call. As your Greens in WA Parliament we will always be proud to speak up as a voice of opposition against government inaction on decarbonisation, and for the Labor party’s support for AUKUS.
Header photo: At the Big Gas Chat on 24th April. Sophie capturing Senators Peter Whish-Wilson, Steph Hodgins-May and Jordon Steele-John, and the other enthused participants.