‘Betrayal’: Aussies fume over super truth
An Australian super fund which boasts $360 billion in assets and has more than 3.4 million members is under fire.
Members of an Australian superannuation provider are furious after the multi-billion dollar fund quietly began investing in a major coal mining company despite claiming to be committed to reaching net zero emissions.
AustralianSuper has become one of the largest investors in Whitehaven Coal, with shares worth about $395 million, disclosures from the end of last year show, despite previously divesting from the company in 2020.
Whitehaven Coal – whose chief executive Paul Flynn pocketed a $10.6 million pay packet last year – has also come under scrutiny with claims he is heading up a company that is cashing in on an environmental crisis.
Olivia Gardiner is an AustralianSuper member who is “angry” over the fund’s decision to invest in Whitehaven Coal.
The 28-year-old said where super funds are investing is a “common conversation” people her age are having. Five years ago, she shifted to AustralianSuper due to its commitments to net zero but describes the Whitehaven Coal move as a “betrayal”.
“The recent news has really disappointed me and made me quite angry as you put your trust in these institutions and they change it up behind your back,” Ms Gardener told news.com.au.
“I feel really disappointed. I think that AustralianSuper promoting themselves as an environmentally sustainable fund (in supporting the net zero goal) is false advertising and I’m angry.
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“I think a lot of members should be because these big funds are banking on their members’ blind trust and that they won’t keep track and call out their behaviour.
“I’ve moved funds for this reason and I’ll do it again – it’s really easy.”
The return to investing in coal mining also makes the Melbourne woman fearful of the future and extreme weather events.
“I think there is this kind of narrative that investing in renewables is enough but divesting in coal and gas is what we need for a net zero future,” she said.
AustralianSuper says its commitment to net zero “hasn’t changed”, with a spokesperson telling news.com.au it “regularly reassess investments in the energy and resources sectors for their ability to deliver value for members”.
Shareholder advocacy group and clean energy finance organisation Market Forces has slammed AustralianSuper’s decision with chief executive Will van de Pol describing Whitehaven Coal as having a “shameful rap sheet in terms of environmental incidents”.
He said AustralianSuper members have used Market Forces’ website to send thousands of emails regarding the fund’s fossil fuel investments over the past decade and many had contacted them over the recent decision.
“I think this investment from AustralianSuper into the biggest coal expander sends all the wrong messages about transition away from fossil fuels to renewables if Australia is to avoid the worst impact of climate change.”
One of Australia’s leading climate scientists, Australian National University Professor Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, said a commitment to reducing emissions and investment into coal mining simply didn’t match up.
“We can’t get to net zero effectively and efficiently if we invest in fossil fuels and renewable energy is actually much cheaper,” Prof Perkins-Kirkpatrick said.
“The mind boggles, it’s not setting the right message. I’m not the expert in finance but I can’t see how it is a good business decision over the next few decades.”
Meanwhile, Market Forces analysis found Whitehaven plans would result in coal production from its mines increasing by over 80 per cent by the mid 2030s.
The projects would also result in nearly five billion tonnes of carbon pollution from burning coal, equivalent to running all of Australia coal-fired power stations until 2062.
One of Whitehaven’s most high profile projects is Winchester South, a proposed new open-cut coal mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.
Mr van de Pol said the project is inconsistent with limiting the global impacts of climate change and the “devastating impact of supercharged fires, droughts and storm events which communities are already facing”.
The mine is expected to contribute 583 million tonnes of greenhouse gas pollution, according to the company’s environmental impact statement, which is more than Australia’s national annual greenhouse gas emissions.
Prof Perkins-Kirkpatrick said any new project will contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions which will stay in the atmosphere for hundreds of years.
“Any emission coming from any projects will stay in the atmosphere for centuries to come so we won’t just feel the impacts next summer, it’s the generations to come,” she said.
Coal mining advocates argue it is still a crucial industry for the Australian economy.
Industry lobby group Coal Australia said the country’s coal industry contributed $99.3 billion to national and local economies in 2022-23 and is Australia’s second largest export industry after iron ore.
The coal industry plays a critical role in supporting regional communities, especially in Queensland and NSW, both by providing jobs and supporting businesses, it added.
Environmental lobby group Lock the Gate’s head of investigation and research George Woods
was highly critical of AustralianSuper’s investment decision.
“At this point, any investment in a company that is expanding coal production is an investment that assumes the temperature goals of the Paris climate agreement will not be met and we are tracking at a high global warming scenario,” she said.
She said of millions of members, the average age is 40, “so they will mostly be retiring in or after 2050 and the impact of climate change on the Australian economy will materially affect their retirement savings”.
Whitehaven’s pursuit of coal mining only as an “entire business strategy built on the assumption of catastrophic levels of global warming”, according to Ms Wood.
Meanwhile, Mr van de Pol added recent research showed the top 30 super funds will take a 46 per cent hit to returns by 2050 if climate change goals aren’t met.
He also argued coal company CEOs are being “incentivised to increase coal production” when it must rapidly fall to meet the climate goals.
AustralianSuper said in a statement the fund was still committed to its net zero 2050 goal. “The energy transition will not be linear,” a spokesperson said.
“AustralianSuper’s 3.5 million members have diverse preferences and attitudes about what they want us to invest in. The fund offers members a number of investment options that give them choice.”
Whitehaven Coal did not respond to requests for comment.
sarah.sharples@news.com.au
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