Woodside Energy snubs HESTA’s green director picks

The $83bn super fund says it will keep engaging with the oil and gas giant after it tapped mining veteran Tony O’Neill for a director role.

HESTA chief executive Debby Blakey will continue to engage with Woodside on its board capabilities.

Woodside Energy has snubbed a list of climate-focused directors suggested by superannuation giant HESTA, with the oil and gas producer so far declining to back any of the fund’s picks aimed at adding green expertise to its board.

HESTA, the $83bn super fund for healthcare workers, has for the past several months engaged with Woodside on the capabilities of its board members, arguing that it needed to look further afield than oil and gas expertise.

The fund, which holds less than a 1 per cent stake of Woodside, put forward several director candidates for chairman Richard Goyder to consider.

However, Woodside instead tapped mining veteran Tony O’Neill as its newest director.

HESTA has been a vocal activist investor about climate change, pushing companies such as Woodside, Origin Energy and AGL Energy to speed up their transition plans.

The move to add Mr O’Neill as a non-executive director and a member of its sustainability committee comes after Woodside faced investor pressure over its climate ambitions at its annual meeting in April.

Mr O’Neill was previously group executive director of technical and sustainability at Anglo American. He retired from that role in December 2022 and joined Woodside’s board on June 3.

“Tony O’Neill brings to the board technical and sustainability experience,” HESTA chief executive Debby Blakey said.

“We continue to engage with Woodside on prioritising the ­addition of further new energy and business transformation skills to its board,” Ms Blakey said.

In the days prior to Woodside confirming Mr O’Neill’s appointment, Ms Blakey told The Australian companies in particular sectors were, at times, “very focused on the skills of those sectors”.

“Oil and gas companies tend to focus on board capability around oil and gas. What we’re saying is there’s a real need to consider a different capability, new energy capability,” Ms Blakey said.

“That’s why we were happy to identify the sorts of candidates that we believe would have that new energy capability. And that’s been the conversation … it’s just been really engaging with Woodside to say we acknowledge the process they are going through on board renewal and suggesting that there’s a broader group of candidates that they could consider.”

At Woodside’s AGM in April, HESTA voted against the oil and gas major’s climate plan, arguing there was a “significant gap” in its transition pathway.

Ms Blakey said she was comfortable with the fund maintaining small positions while taking an activist approach. “We have never felt that a small holding means we don’t have an opportunity to use our voice and have a seat at the table,” she said.

“We invest in companies based on the return profile. We see that we can have a very strong voice even though we might have a small holding, because we are an institutional investor and we represent over a million members.”

Originally published as Woodside Energy snubs HESTA’s green director picks