Row over funding of green legal body Environmental Defenders Office

The government has paid $3m to the EDF but won’t commit to pausing payments despite an ongoing investigation into the body.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. Picture: Martin Ollman / NewsWire

The Albanese government has provided $3m to the Environmental Defenders Office since winning government in 2022, with department officials refusing to pause payments to the ­activist legal body despite it being under investigation.

With the Coalition teeing off against the body in Senate estimates on Monday, officials from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water confirmed they had begun to probe whether the body breached its funding agreement after it was found to have confected evidence against ­San­tos’ $5.3bn Barossa LNG project.

The actions come after a Federal Court judgment last month found the EDO had constructed evidence in making its legal case against the Santos-operated Barossa gas project.

Department secretary David Fredericks on Monday left open the possibility of expanding the scope of the review after further evidence was raised by Coalition senators during a Senate estimates hearing.

Nationals senator Susan McDonald tabled evidence including social media posts made by the body calling on members of the public to attend information sessions on how to disrupt energy projects, accusing the EDO of engaging in witness coaching.

Mr Fredericks said he had received an email from Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s chief of staff requesting him to investigate whether its actions against the Santos-operated Barossa gas project were consistent with its commonwealth funding agreement.

He said he would give further consideration to expanding the scope of the probe as a consequence of new evidence raised by Coalition senators.

Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam urged the government to delay an upcoming payment scheduled to be made to the EDO on April 30 pending the outcome of the investigation, after officials would not commit to pausing the payment.

“In the face of these revelations, the government must commit to having an expanded and meaningful review and commit to not making the next milestone payment in April if the review hasn’t exonerated them,” Senator Duniam said.

Nationals senator Jacinta Price said it was “reprehensible” that the government continued to fund an activist organisation as she called on Ms Plibersek to apologise for the saga.

“Minister Plibersek has not provided enough of an apology or a guarantee that this won’t happen again in the future,” Senator Price said.

The funding comes as part of an election promise to reverse funding cuts to the Environmental Defenders Office, providing $8.3m in funding to the community legal centre over the forward estimates.

The EDO is a legal organisation well known for its environmental advocacy, running high-profile cases against coal and gas developments.

Labor pledged to reinstate funding for the EDO ahead of the last federal election in order to enable Australians to have ­access to the law.