A gas company that refused to appear before a parliamentary committee investigating oil and gas drilling in the Beetaloo Basin, faces huge fines or even jail time if found to be in contempt by the Senate.
The Senate environment committee on Wednesday began a process to officially find Tamboran Resources in contempt for ignoring requests to appear before its inquiry, with the Coalition and the Greens taking a rare united stance that the parliament’s “standards must be maintained”.
“As Chair, and with the Committee’s support, we will seek to hold this company to account,” said Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, the committee chair.
The Senate environment and communications references committee commenced an inquiry in June 2021 into oil and gas exploration and production in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo basin. It is a gas-rich region the Coalition government has wanted to open up as part of its “gas-led recovery”, with licenses and taxpayer-funded grants being issued for exploratory drilling.
Environmental groups have slammed the plan, raising concerns about the impact of fracking on the landscape and calling it a “carbon bomb”.
One set of modelling suggests extracting and using gas from the Beetaloo Basin would use up the rest of Australia’s carbon budget under the Paris agreement, potentially driving up Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 13%.
An interim report of the Senate committee, released in March, said Sweetpea Petroleum – a wholly owned subsidiary of Tamboran – received a $7.5m government grant for exploratory drilling in the Beetaloo.
Hanson-Young said it was “critical” for Tamboran to answer questions from the inquiry, citing considerations around transparency, accountability and the use of public funds.
The committee report said an invitation to appear at a 22 March hearing was sent to Tamboran on 1 March, but the company’s chief executive Joel Riddle responded that he wouldn’t be able to appear.
Tamboran was also invited on 11 March, but Riddle declined this too, according to correspondence shared in the committee’s report.
Further invitations were sent on 16 and 18 March, with Riddle replying the day before the hearing to say he was “absolutely entitled not to appear if we wish”.
“Many companies and individuals have not attended various parliamentary committee hearings in the past despite having been invited to do so,” Riddle wrote, according to the correspondence.
That day, the committee issued an order for Tamboran to appear at a 25 March hearing.
The committee said it did not received a response, and Tamboran did not attend that hearing. Hanson-Young called it “unacceptable” that Tamboran had “refused” to attend the committee, sharing her “strong dissatisfaction” and claiming the actions may constitute contempt of the Senate.
“The committee considers it unacceptable that Tamboran, a publicly listed company, whose subsidiary has received a multi-million-dollar grant of taxpayer money, has refused to appear and answer questions in relation to its petroleum exploration activities in the Beetaloo Basin,” she wrote.
Senate rules state that “a person shall not, without reasonable excuse … refuse or fail to attend before the Senate or a committee when ordered to do so”. Contempt matters are rare, but can carry penalties of six months in jail and $5,000 fines for individuals, and $25,000 for corporations.
In the March committee report, Hanson-Young claimed Tamboran’s actions “may constitute contempt of the Senate”.
In a statement on Wednesday, a Tamboran spokesperson said the company was “limited” in what it could respond publicly, “given this is a matter which is in the process of being considered by the Committee and potentially the Senate”.
“Unfortunately, with the notice provided by the Committee and management’s other obligations Tamboran was not in a position to attend as requested by the committee,” the spokesperson said.
“Tamboran is committed to creating jobs in the Northern Territory and contributing to the future of Australia’s low-carbon energy security.”
On Wednesday, the environment committee resolved to make a referral to the Senate president on the matter, seeking to have it referred to the privileges committee. That would begin a process to potentially hold Tamboran in contempt, but the process will not progress until the Senate sits after the federal election.
“Tamboran’s refusal confirms the Morrison Government has given taxpayer money to a bunch of cowboys to drill for gas in the Beetaloo Basin. They’ve been awarded millions of dollars for gas exploration and yet refuse to front a Senate Inquiry to answer questions about how they’ll spend that money,” Hanson-Young told Guardian Australia.
“Despite repeated warnings about being held in contempt of the Senate, this company seems to think the rules don’t apply to them. This recalcitrance is also deeply concerning when we are talking about a company that plans to frack fragile land and near precious water resources creating a climate bomb.”
The Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, the committee deputy chair, also backed the referral.
“The Senate has strong powers to compel witnesses to obtain evidence. These standards must be maintained to ensure policy deliberation is properly informed. I support the referral,” he told Guardian Australia.
“This is not a question of who did or didn’t receive government grants. It’s a question of maintaining the standards of the Senate and the work we do for the Australian people.”