The Territory Government to slash $100k EDO funding

The Territory Government is preparing to slash funding for a discredited environmental lobby. Read how much.

The CLP Government will defund the Environmental Defenders’ Office, more than a year after the green-legal advocacy group were lashed by the federal court for its tactics to stop the Barossa gas project.

Just days before delivering her headland 2025 Year of Action speech on Monday, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said the government would stop the $100,000 provided by the Territory to the green legal advocacy group.

The EDO is jointly funded by philanthropists and state and federal governments, with the Commonwealth’s contribution totalling $8.2 million over the next four years.

The not-for-profit makes about $13m a year from private benefactors and additional millions from the states.

In January 2024, federal court judge Natalie Charlesworth slammed the EDO for its campaign of disruption to stop Santos’ Barossa gas project.

Natalie Charlesworth soon after her appointment as a Federal court judge.

Justice Charlesworth found the EDO evidence of Indigenous heritage as “so lacking in integrity that no weight can be placed” on it and said there was “a significant degree of divergence” in the evidence given by Tiwi Islanders.

She found an EDO lawyer and an expert witness had engaged in “a form of subtle coaching” of some Tiwi people, getting them to tell “their stories in a way that propelled their traditions into the sea and into the vicinity of the pipeline”.

To a round of applause from the largely business-based audience, the Chief Minister vowed to end Territory taxpayer funding for the organisation.

“I’m absolutely happy to confirm the Environmental Defenders Office will no longer enjoy Territory taxpayer hard earned dollars, which will be better spent protecting the environment than paying for the EDO to stop economic opportunity in the Territory.”

With the government’s Territory Co-ordinator legislation set to be introduced on Tuesday, Ms Finocchiaro linked it to the CLP’s push to re-engage with Asia.

“The legislation we will put forward is the cutting edge in the country and will give us the competitive edge was need.

“It’s about sending a message to the world that we are a mature jurisdiction and (we) already had excellent feedback from our Asian neighbours around the model. They’re excited to see new agreements for the Territory and it’s certainly received a lot of attention.”

Originally published as The Territory Government to slash $100k EDO funding