ALP rift deepens as backbencher attacks Woodside CEO

Dave Kelly’s attack on Meg O’Neill and the gas industry follows similar rumblings from other Labor backbenchers in recent months.

WA Labor MP Dave Kelly.

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Another West Australian Labor MP has broken ranks with the party over its support for the gas industry, in the latest signs of tension from the Cook government’s backbench.

Dave Kelly – a former water and fisheries minister under Mark McGowan – on Wednesday night launched an attack on Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill in state parliament.

Mr Kelly labelled Ms O’Neill’s recent comments, in which she described young people as ­“hypocritical zealots”, as “quite disrespectful and arguably arrogant”, calling on her to apologise.

He took umbrage with the Woodside CEO’s comments at a recent oil and gas conference in which she criticised the opposition to oil and gas from young people who happily embraced online shopping.

“It’s been a fascinating journey to watch the discussion particularly amongst young people who have this very ideological, almost zealous, view of fossil fuels bad, renewables good,” Ms O’Neill said at the time.

“But (they) are happily plugging in their devices, ordering things from Shein and Temu, having one little thing shipped to their house without any recognition of the energy and carbon impact of their actions.”

Woodside Energy CEO Meg O’Neill.

Mr Kelly criticised Ms O’Neill for trying to portray young Australians concerned about climate change as engaged in “some frivolous crusade”.

“It seems quite unfair of Ms O’Neill to be, in a rather frivolous way, taking a swipe at younger generations, especially when young people rarely get to the microphone in the same way that she does,” he said.

“As each year passes, the world has an ever-narrowing pathway to reach net zero by 2050 and within that pathway the role of gas as a transition fuel is also narrowing. Ms O’Neill should show she understands the seriousness of the climate change challenge and how she is part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

Mr Kelly’s criticisms, and in particular his position on the “narrowing” pathway of gas as a transition fuel, is at odds with that of his government, which has been vocal in its support for Woodside and in particular its extension of the North West Shelf gas project.

It follows similar rumblings from other Labor backbenchers in recent months. Outgoing MP Chris Tallentire last September spoke in parliament about “a concerted effort by interest groups” to influence environmental protection laws and singled out ­stories by Kerry Stokes’s Seven West Media, while his colleague Jess Shaw quit politics in order to be able to be more active in ­“addressing climate change and effecting energy transition”.

Asked on Thursday about Mr Kelly’s comments, Acting Premier Rita Saffioti said she did not agree with them and they were not the government’s position.

“Everyone has a right to present their views but from a government point of view, (we are) very much strongly supporting gas as a key transition fuel and that’s something as a government we support and publicise on numerous occasions,” Ms Saffioti said.

WA Greens climate spokeswoman Sophie McNeill said Mr Kelly’s comments were indicative of a broader trend of Labor MPs “breaking ranks over the Premier’s lobbying efforts on behalf of Woodside and his government’s woeful record on climate action”.

“More and more Labor members, both publicly and privately, are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with their own government’s gas fanaticism and failure to facilitate the rapid transition to renewable energy that climate science calls for, and rightly so,” she said.

“Decisions made by this government, including and especially the approval of Woodside’s North West Shelf extension, will, in the words of Dave Kelly have … ‘a serious consequence for the planet’ and our kids’ futures.”

WA Liberal leader Basil Zempilas quizzed Ms Saffioti over the comments in question time, asking her whether it was “now Labor Party policy to attack resource companies”.

A Woodside spokesman defended Ms O’Neill’s original comments and said the company’s energy production was driving economic growth and delivering reliable and cost-effective power across the state.

“Ms O’Neill’s comments were not an attack on young people, but an observation made in the context of a broader discussion on activism and the energy transition. They highlighted an apparent dichotomy between the behaviour of some people who on the one hand condemn an industry that underpins their lifestyles while on the other embracing the everyday comforts and conveniences that its existence provides them,” he said.

“Oil and gas are embedded in our clothes, furniture, mobile phones and the fittings in our cars, to name just a few.

“Gas is also the feedstock for the fertilisers that help Australian farmers grow the food that feeds us and contributes to our export income. Demand for these products is not going away.”