Chevron donates thousands to Labor, Liberal as it pushes oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight

ENERGY giant Chevron donated tens of thousands of dollars to Labor and Liberal before and after an inquiry into mining in the Great Australian Bight, sparking claims it is trying to buy political influence.

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ENERGY giant Chevron donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Labor and Liberal parties before and after an inquiry into mining in the Great Australian Bight, sparking claims it is trying to buy political influence.

Chevron hopes to begin drilling up to four wells in the environmentally sensitive Bight next year to search for oil and gas.

The company gave $8800 to the South Australian Labor Party one week before a Senate committee hearing into mining in The Bight in April, 2016. It also donated $8800 to the SA Liberals the day after the hearing.

Australian Electoral Commission records for 2015/16 also show Chevron donated $15,500 to federal Labor, $11,000 to the federal Nationals and various amounts to Labor and the Liberals in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia.

Hangglider Jon Durand rides the Nullarbor updrafts along the coastline of the Great Australian Bight at Eucla. Picture: Mark Watson

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young criticised the major parties for accepting the donations, but a Labor member of The Bight inquiry dismissed her concerns.

“There is absolutely no doubt that this money has bought Chevron influence in both the Liberal and Labor parties,” Senator Hanson-Young said.

“These politicians should be protecting the Great Australian Bight and the thousands of South Australian fisheries and tourism jobs that rely on it, not their foreign corporate donors.’’

Although its donations to SA parties coincided with the April committee hearing, Chevron’s representatives did not appear before the inquiry until November.

SA Labor Senator Alex Gallacher said it was “ridiculous” for Senator Hanson-Young to suggest that the Opposition was influenced by Chevron.

Senator Gallacher said he welcomed investment in SA but it was up to the independent National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority to decide if projects could safely go ahead.

“Anybody who wants to bring jobs and prosperity to South Australia I’ll be very friendly with,’ he said.

“We’ve got to get the environment right and that’s why we have an independent regulator.’’

A Chevron Australia spokesman said the company participated in political party forums on a bipartisan basis in the states where it operated.

“In South Australia, Chevron Australia is a member of Labor’s South Australia Progressive Business and the Liberal’s FutureSA. Membership fees are fully disclosed to electoral authorities,’’ the spokesman said.

An oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico operated by Shell and owned by Shell, Chevron and British Petroleum. Picture: AP

BP last year abandoned a $1.4 billion drilling plan for The Bight.

Opponents of drilling in The Bight are concerned an accident could devastate the marine environment and coastal communities. But supporters point to projects on the North West Shelf and Bass Strait as proof that oil and gas extraction can occur safely.

The Greens want mining banned in The Bight.

Australia’s oil and gas extraction industry was worth $31 billion in last year and employs an estimated 26,000 people.

The Senate inquiry into mining in The Bight is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Wednesday.