Former WA treasurer Ben Wyatt joins Woodside board
Ben Wyatt’s appointment came as conservation groups attacked Woodside’s latest LNG plans
Former Western Australian treasurer Ben Wyatt has walked into his first corporate directorship and straight into his first corporate firestorm.
Mr Wyatt, who retired from office at WA’s state election in March, on Wednesday was named as a non-executive director of Woodside Petroleum.
Mr Wyatt was the first Indigenous treasurer of any Australian parliament and has long been highly regarded in the corporate world.
But the appointment drew immediate condemnation from The Australia Institute’s principal adviser Mark Ogge, who said there was a “revolving door” between politics and the oil and gas industry.
“It’s outrageous that people go directly from government to industry and vice versa, it’s a huge conflict,” Mr Ogge said.
“It means these projects are not getting approved on a level playing field, the oil and gas industry is using its influence to get projects approved that undermine climate policy.”
The Australia Institute and the Conservation Council of WA will on Thursday release a new report pointing to what they say will be a huge volume of emissions from Woodside’s proposed $11 billion Scarborough liquefied natural gas project.
The project, the research says, will increase WA’s total emissions by almost 5 per cent a year and will potentially damage ancient Aboriginal rock art on the Burrup peninsula.
The institute says neither the emissions nor the rock art impact have been adequately considered in state and federal approvals of the project.
The report cited documents obtained from the federal Department of Environment and Energy under freedom of information, in which the department notes that Woodside’s LNG operations are likely to have “an indirect, adverse impact” on the national heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago.
The company is required to release an updated emissions abatement plan as part of its proposed expansion.
A spokeswoman for Woodside said Scarborough would be one of the lowest-carbon LNG sources in Australia, while the company was also committed to ongoing research and protection of the Burrup rock art.
Woodside chairman Richard Goyder said Mr Wyatt’s background in treasury, finance and Indigenous affairs would bring a “unique dynamic” to the board.
“Mr Wyatt’s proven strategic leadership, demonstrated across his diverse ministerial portfolio, will be an important contributor to the Woodside board as we execute our growth priorities and pursue the energy transition,” Mr Goyder said.
Mr Wyatt was also WA’s Aboriginal Affairs minister at the time Rio Tinto destroyed the Juukan Gorge rockshelters, although the formal approval for that move was signed off by the previous Barnett government.
Mr Wyatt will be paid just under $270,000 a year in director and committee fees as part of the Woodside appointment.