Oz - PM Howard Promised Oil Co. Financial Help If They Sued Greenpeace

[hatrack]

There goes the "greening" of Howard.

CANBERRA, Oct 4 (IPS) - "In the last week of the federal election campaign Australian Prime Minister John Howard's efforts to woo environmental voters suffered a setback with the revelation that the government promised an oil company financial assistance but only on condition that it sue the environmental group Greenpeace. Greenpeace had campaigned strongly against the Queensland shale oil project, developed by Southern Pacific Petroleum (SPP), on the grounds that it was a major new source of greenhouse gas emissions. From the outset the project encountered strong community opposition while technological problems rendered it hopelessly uneconomic to the point that it is currently being shut down.

In a May 2003 e-mail, the manager of the Department of Industry, Technology and Resources Refining & Fuels Section, Marie Taylor, wrote to the department's deputy secretary, John Ryan, and the head of its Resources Division, John Hartwell, setting out her understanding of a cabinet decision offering financial support to SPP. ''The government's decision to put this arrangement in place was made subject to SPP taking legal action against Greenpeace and with the understanding that the viability and environmental impacts of the project would be made clear within this 12 month window,'' the e-mail stated.

While SPP never proceeded with the legal action, Greenpeace Australia climate campaigner, Gareth Walton, said that he was surprised at the government's plan to use ''taxpayers' money to incite an oil company to sue Greenpeace''. The e-mail was obtained by Greenpeace Australia under the Freedom of Information Act, which allows citizens to access internal government documents subject to meeting certain conditions.

Kirsty Bozeman, a spokeswoman for the Minister for Industry, Technology and Resources, Ian Macfarlane, was unavailable for comment. However, she told the 'Sydney Morning Herald' ''there was no obligation on anybody to do anything''.

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http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=25710