Indigenous owners want Beetaloo, says Origin Energy chair Gordon Cairns

Origin Energy chair Gordon Cairns has lashed out at activist groups critical of its Beetaloo Basin gas project in the Northern Territory.

Origin Energy chair Gordon Cairns has lashed out at activist groups critical of its Beetaloo Basin gas project in the Northern Territory. Picture: John Feder/The Australia.

Origin Energy chair Gordon Cairns has lashed out at activist groups critical of its Beetaloo Basin gas project in the Northern Territory, saying traditional owners who have agreed to allow exploration were “horrified” over claims the gas industry was not welcome in the region.

Mr Cairns, who will step down as chair at Origin’s annual meeting on Tuesday, said it had strong support from indigenous communities for the controversial gas project, which has attracted opposition from shareholder activist groups.

“The activists are saying you shouldn’t be drilling there and gas is wrong and fracking is bad — but these people want us to come,” Mr Cairns told The Australian.

“And they are horrified that other Aboriginal people who are not the landowners, who are not where we are drilling, should speak on their behalf.”

Questions have been raised over the process of obtaining informed consent from local land owners along with concerns over the fracking process on land and water supplies across the sprawling 18,500 sq km site.

However, Origin says exploration permits for the Beetaloo were agreed after thorough consultation between the Northern Land Council, which represents traditional owners, along with the NT government and the exploration permit holder.

“We’ve been assiduous in following the rules prescribed for us which is through the Land Council. They prescribe the rules, they decide who the owners are and we then deal with them,” Mr Cairns said.

“I’ve been in their kitchens, had dinner with them, sat around the garden talking to them and I can tell you first hand they want us to come. And they want us to come because they can see the economic way out of poverty.”

Origin in March delayed its Beetaloo project, 500km south east of Darwin, which is being eyed as both an export opportunity and a major contributor to east coast volumes. Drilling resumed in September.

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility filed a shareholder resolution in August calling for an independent review of the process to obtain consent from native title holders and said it remained concerned over the issue.

“ACCR has been following the issue of consent in the Beetaloo Basin for three years. Our interest is in ensuring that Origin’s stated commitment to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is implemented in practice,” ACCR executive director Brynn O’Brien said.

Mr Cairns will step down after seven years as chair and 13 years as board member. Origin director and former banker Scott Perkins will succeed him in the role.