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Quarterly Essay #99
Quarterly Essay 99: Woodside vs The Planet: How a Company Captured a Country
The world may have committed at Paris to hold back dangerous climate change, but Australia's fossil-fuel giant Woodside is doubling it has bold new plans to keep producing gas out to 2070. Support from the major parties is locked in, so something has to give.
This is a story of power and influence, pollution and protest. How does one company capture a country? How convincing is Woodside's argument that gas is a necessary transition fuel, as the world decarbonises? And what is the new "energy realism" narrative being pushed by Trump's White House?
In this engrossing essay, Marian Wilkinson reveals the ways of corporate power and investigates the new face of resistance and disruption. The stakes could not be higher.
"The gas companies and the Labor governments in WA and Canberra had refined their the gas industry was helping the world decarbonise, curbing its emissions and providing energy security. It sounded like the planet could hardly have a better friend than Australia's LNG industry and companies like Woodside." —Marian Wilkinson, Woodside vs the Planet
This is a story of power and influence, pollution and protest. How does one company capture a country? How convincing is Woodside's argument that gas is a necessary transition fuel, as the world decarbonises? And what is the new "energy realism" narrative being pushed by Trump's White House?
In this engrossing essay, Marian Wilkinson reveals the ways of corporate power and investigates the new face of resistance and disruption. The stakes could not be higher.
"The gas companies and the Labor governments in WA and Canberra had refined their the gas industry was helping the world decarbonise, curbing its emissions and providing energy security. It sounded like the planet could hardly have a better friend than Australia's LNG industry and companies like Woodside." —Marian Wilkinson, Woodside vs the Planet
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Published October 15, 2025
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About the author
Marian Wilkinson
6 books11 followersMarian Wilkinson is a multi-award-winning Australian journalist with a career that has spanned radio, television and print.
She has covered politics, national security, refugee issues, and climate change as well as serving as a foreign correspondent in Washington, DC for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. She was a deputy editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, executive producer of the ABC's Four Corners program, and a senior reporter with Four Corners.
As environment editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, she reported on the rapid melt of Arctic sea ice for a joint Four Corners-Sydney Morning Herald production that won a Walkley Award for journalism and the Australian Museum's Eureka prize for environmental journalism. She also covered the UN climate conferences in Bali and Copenhagen.
As a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, she reported on the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers for Four Corners.
In 2018, she was inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame.
She has covered politics, national security, refugee issues, and climate change as well as serving as a foreign correspondent in Washington, DC for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. She was a deputy editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, executive producer of the ABC's Four Corners program, and a senior reporter with Four Corners.
As environment editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, she reported on the rapid melt of Arctic sea ice for a joint Four Corners-Sydney Morning Herald production that won a Walkley Award for journalism and the Australian Museum's Eureka prize for environmental journalism. She also covered the UN climate conferences in Bali and Copenhagen.
As a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, she reported on the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers for Four Corners.
In 2018, she was inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 11, 2025
A few years ago, former ABC Four Corners investigative journalist Marian Wilkinson wrote ‘The Carbon Club’, probably the definitive account of how over decades a network of climate change deniers, fossil fuel executives, business leaders and politicians have dictated Australia’s climate policy. It was a rage-inducing story of obfuscation, misinformation and self-interested delay that I saw a glimpse of in my former career as a financial journalist.
After the broad canvass of the previous book, this new quarterly essay by Wilkinson tackles the same themes in a bottom-up approach. She focuses on how one particular company, Woodside Energy (formerly Woodside Petroleum) - the nation’s largest gas exporter and one of the world’s largest carbon polluters - has captured public policy in this country over the heads of the wishes and welfare of the Australian people.
Woodside’s extraordinary power was most recently evident in the lead-up to and in the aftermath of Australia’s 2025 federal election. It was here that the centre-left Labor Party (nominally the more climate action-friendly of the two major party groupings in Australia) secured a parliamentary landslide - largely due to the second preferences of urban voters wanting stronger action on the energy transition.
But soon after the election the new ‘Environment Minister’ Murray Watt approved a 40-year extension of Woodside’s massive North-West Shelf gas project off the coast of Western Australia despite vociferous protests by environmentalists. Woodside, headed by a transplanted American - (‘Methane’) Meg O’Neill - plans to build 50 new gas wells off Broome in the Browse Basin, home to Scott Reef, one of Australia’s most diverse coral ecosystems.
Greenpeace has described the plan as “the worst climate-polluting infrastructure proposed anywhere in the nation.” The Australian Conservation Foundation’s chief executive, labels it “the Southern Hemisphere’s largest gas carbon bomb.” The think tank Climate Analytics has estimated that from 2026 to 2070 the emissions from these new wells could amount to 6 billion tonnes or 25 per cent more emissions than all of Australia is expected to release while getting to net zero by 2050.
For its part, Woodside - and its client politicians in both the state and federal Labor governments - parrot the line that the expansion is needed to satisfy Australia’s markets in Asia as those countries make the transition from fossil fuels to renewables. Natural gas is promoted as a cleaner option than coal and a stop-gap measure.
But it becomes fairly clear, reading Wilkinson’s account, that this is all short-term self-interest on the part of Woodside, seeking to maintain fat profits off a Commonwealth-owned resource, and the politicians, whose focus rarely extends beyond the three-year electoral cycle. Labor needed the seats in Western Australia, while the state government there is held in check by the man who really runs the state - the far right mining and media billionaire Kerry Stokes. As in so many long-term public policy issues in Australia, the state (and media) are is captured by powerful interests with deep pockets, meaning the people’s interests come last.
“Australia needs a broader, national debate about gas exports and climate change – and not the one Woodside and the gas industry want,” Wilkinson concludes. “It’s one that asks: can Australia really be a responsible climate actor if it keeps developing major new gas projects as global emissions continue to rise and the chances of holding global warming to 1.5°C fade? It asks state and federal governments to assess the full impact of Australia’s fossil-fuel exports on climate change both at home and abroad. It asks whether more Australian LNG exports are squeezing out the growth of renewables in our Asian neighbours.”
If you despair about the inability of elected governments to get on top of what is an existential issue in climate change, this forensic account of how power really works in Australia will not make you rest any easier about either the prospects for the planet or democracy. I’m not sure how the Labor hacks sleep at night.
After the broad canvass of the previous book, this new quarterly essay by Wilkinson tackles the same themes in a bottom-up approach. She focuses on how one particular company, Woodside Energy (formerly Woodside Petroleum) - the nation’s largest gas exporter and one of the world’s largest carbon polluters - has captured public policy in this country over the heads of the wishes and welfare of the Australian people.
Woodside’s extraordinary power was most recently evident in the lead-up to and in the aftermath of Australia’s 2025 federal election. It was here that the centre-left Labor Party (nominally the more climate action-friendly of the two major party groupings in Australia) secured a parliamentary landslide - largely due to the second preferences of urban voters wanting stronger action on the energy transition.
But soon after the election the new ‘Environment Minister’ Murray Watt approved a 40-year extension of Woodside’s massive North-West Shelf gas project off the coast of Western Australia despite vociferous protests by environmentalists. Woodside, headed by a transplanted American - (‘Methane’) Meg O’Neill - plans to build 50 new gas wells off Broome in the Browse Basin, home to Scott Reef, one of Australia’s most diverse coral ecosystems.
Greenpeace has described the plan as “the worst climate-polluting infrastructure proposed anywhere in the nation.” The Australian Conservation Foundation’s chief executive, labels it “the Southern Hemisphere’s largest gas carbon bomb.” The think tank Climate Analytics has estimated that from 2026 to 2070 the emissions from these new wells could amount to 6 billion tonnes or 25 per cent more emissions than all of Australia is expected to release while getting to net zero by 2050.
For its part, Woodside - and its client politicians in both the state and federal Labor governments - parrot the line that the expansion is needed to satisfy Australia’s markets in Asia as those countries make the transition from fossil fuels to renewables. Natural gas is promoted as a cleaner option than coal and a stop-gap measure.
But it becomes fairly clear, reading Wilkinson’s account, that this is all short-term self-interest on the part of Woodside, seeking to maintain fat profits off a Commonwealth-owned resource, and the politicians, whose focus rarely extends beyond the three-year electoral cycle. Labor needed the seats in Western Australia, while the state government there is held in check by the man who really runs the state - the far right mining and media billionaire Kerry Stokes. As in so many long-term public policy issues in Australia, the state (and media) are is captured by powerful interests with deep pockets, meaning the people’s interests come last.
“Australia needs a broader, national debate about gas exports and climate change – and not the one Woodside and the gas industry want,” Wilkinson concludes. “It’s one that asks: can Australia really be a responsible climate actor if it keeps developing major new gas projects as global emissions continue to rise and the chances of holding global warming to 1.5°C fade? It asks state and federal governments to assess the full impact of Australia’s fossil-fuel exports on climate change both at home and abroad. It asks whether more Australian LNG exports are squeezing out the growth of renewables in our Asian neighbours.”
If you despair about the inability of elected governments to get on top of what is an existential issue in climate change, this forensic account of how power really works in Australia will not make you rest any easier about either the prospects for the planet or democracy. I’m not sure how the Labor hacks sleep at night.
October 3, 2025
The Quarterly Essay is essential reading for those wishing to access relevant, evidence laced accounts of serious social, political and environmental issues faced by Australia and Australian. Marian Wilkinson is undoubtedly one of Australia’s premier investigative journalist. She has several high quality books and articles to her name. She is known by many of us through her work on ABC 4 Corners.
This essay is a masterly account of one Australian company that is at the forefront of the mining industry in Australia. The company and its CEOs have been incredibly successful in dictating to governments policies that have supported Woodside and its shareholders in its pursuit of mining expansion.
The mining industry has a history of being probably the most powerful force in Australia in influencing government policies and decisions. Throughout the history of white settlement this industry has lobbied successful to have decisions made to benefit them. From the stifling Aboriginal control of the lands they have occupied for centuries though to the destruction of many mining taxes.
Wilkinson sets about to explain Woodside’s behaviour in its wish to expand its mining industries and its conflict with environmental groups wanting lower carbon production and the damage in areas close to Woodside’s mining activities.
The essay opens with a description of environmental activists actions to hamper the mining giants activities and bring to this to the publics attention. Wilkinson writes of how the governments and specifically the police often use laws aimed at terrorists to counter and prosecute those environmentalists protesting against Woodside.
The author spends considerable time dealing with the damage to petroglyphs on Burrup Peninsula. Murray Watt, Plibersek and Albanese have all played a role in confirming Woodside’s right to have unrestricted control over their mining activities and the protection, or lack of it, to the surrounding environment.
As I read I reflected on my own climate change journey. I first taught the concept in 1988 (then known as the greenhouse effect). As the scientific knowledge grew so to did the political backlash led by the carbon industry. The oil, coal and gas industries, who saw alternative energy sources as a direct attack on their survival. They spent sizeable sums both challenging and denying the science of climate change. Along came social media the medium by which hocus-pocus, lies and false claims could propagated, fertilised and grown. To this day it always amazes me the responses made by those with little, if any scientific knowledge or training. I wouldn’t say I am ambivalent to climate change but rather I refuse to discuss the knowns of climate change. What interests me the most is the manner in which the changes will affect the human species. Will it be an increase in number and destructive power of the storms. Will it be the increase in flooding, while elsewhere in the country the severity of drought? Will melting ice raise sea levels to the point where settlements will need to move and fertile land made unusable? Will animal and plant life suffer severe repercussions from increased temperatures? Will parts of the planet become uninhabitable?
I won’t be around the see these consequences take serious shape. Sadly, when I look at my recently born granddaughter I fear and worry when she reaches my age what state the world will be in and how much blame will be attributed to politicians who did so little and mining executives and shareholders who pursued activities which raised the CO2 level in the atmosphere to catastrophic levels.
This essay is a masterly account of one Australian company that is at the forefront of the mining industry in Australia. The company and its CEOs have been incredibly successful in dictating to governments policies that have supported Woodside and its shareholders in its pursuit of mining expansion.
The mining industry has a history of being probably the most powerful force in Australia in influencing government policies and decisions. Throughout the history of white settlement this industry has lobbied successful to have decisions made to benefit them. From the stifling Aboriginal control of the lands they have occupied for centuries though to the destruction of many mining taxes.
Wilkinson sets about to explain Woodside’s behaviour in its wish to expand its mining industries and its conflict with environmental groups wanting lower carbon production and the damage in areas close to Woodside’s mining activities.
The essay opens with a description of environmental activists actions to hamper the mining giants activities and bring to this to the publics attention. Wilkinson writes of how the governments and specifically the police often use laws aimed at terrorists to counter and prosecute those environmentalists protesting against Woodside.
The author spends considerable time dealing with the damage to petroglyphs on Burrup Peninsula. Murray Watt, Plibersek and Albanese have all played a role in confirming Woodside’s right to have unrestricted control over their mining activities and the protection, or lack of it, to the surrounding environment.
As I read I reflected on my own climate change journey. I first taught the concept in 1988 (then known as the greenhouse effect). As the scientific knowledge grew so to did the political backlash led by the carbon industry. The oil, coal and gas industries, who saw alternative energy sources as a direct attack on their survival. They spent sizeable sums both challenging and denying the science of climate change. Along came social media the medium by which hocus-pocus, lies and false claims could propagated, fertilised and grown. To this day it always amazes me the responses made by those with little, if any scientific knowledge or training. I wouldn’t say I am ambivalent to climate change but rather I refuse to discuss the knowns of climate change. What interests me the most is the manner in which the changes will affect the human species. Will it be an increase in number and destructive power of the storms. Will it be the increase in flooding, while elsewhere in the country the severity of drought? Will melting ice raise sea levels to the point where settlements will need to move and fertile land made unusable? Will animal and plant life suffer severe repercussions from increased temperatures? Will parts of the planet become uninhabitable?
I won’t be around the see these consequences take serious shape. Sadly, when I look at my recently born granddaughter I fear and worry when she reaches my age what state the world will be in and how much blame will be attributed to politicians who did so little and mining executives and shareholders who pursued activities which raised the CO2 level in the atmosphere to catastrophic levels.
September 22, 2025
This is infuriating. The governments we vote for have no intention of fixing what they broke. It will be the great crime of the next generation. I strongly believe that this planet will burn to death. This read should upset us all.
September 10, 2025
SO important. concise, easy to read on a very complex issue.
September 4, 2025
Short, sharp and succinct account of the power and influence of the oil and gas behemoth.
There are plenty of back stories which Marian introduces, such as the beginnings of Woodside, the rise of Meg O'Neill and the mishaps of the resources industry that occurred in the past, which doesn't leave you puzzled if you don't know much about the topic. I liked how she interviewed many stakeholders across the landscape and brought up many points from multiple angles to give a well-rounded argument of the topic. Overall, highly recommend it if you ever want a one-up to argue your case about the resource industry.
There are plenty of back stories which Marian introduces, such as the beginnings of Woodside, the rise of Meg O'Neill and the mishaps of the resources industry that occurred in the past, which doesn't leave you puzzled if you don't know much about the topic. I liked how she interviewed many stakeholders across the landscape and brought up many points from multiple angles to give a well-rounded argument of the topic. Overall, highly recommend it if you ever want a one-up to argue your case about the resource industry.
October 2, 2025
Well that was a depressing read. :(
There's a saying in economics that states "there are no solutions, only tradeoffs," and it came to mind reading this. Question is, do you believe it, or more specifically, believe the claims that LNG is essential to transitioning to net zero, if that's even achievable (and if it isn't, we're screwed - heck, we're arguably screwed already). I don't know. There's some hope given, what with the rollout of renewables, but...
Also, the correspondence at the end was good.
There's a saying in economics that states "there are no solutions, only tradeoffs," and it came to mind reading this. Question is, do you believe it, or more specifically, believe the claims that LNG is essential to transitioning to net zero, if that's even achievable (and if it isn't, we're screwed - heck, we're arguably screwed already). I don't know. There's some hope given, what with the rollout of renewables, but...
Also, the correspondence at the end was good.
October 5, 2025
With supreme accuracy Wilkinson captures the sanctimonious mendacity of ONeill and the "conga line of suck holes" in State & Federal government who line up to bequeath favours on the Stage 4 cancer that is Woodside.
Reading this has been profoundly unsettling. For that, I thank Ms Wilkinson.
Reading this has been profoundly unsettling. For that, I thank Ms Wilkinson.
October 18, 2025
A clear, decisive essay about how Woodside influence and drive government decision and action. Surprisingly less angry than I anticipated it to be, but I understand that removing that anger makes this discussion more approachable. Great reading.
September 9, 2025
excellent !!!
September 10, 2025
Just another good old fashioned Marian Wilkinson mining company takedown
September 23, 2025
A very interesting read that outlines Woodsides political sway and power within Australia as it fights to keep its hold over the north west shelf
November 23, 2025
Just got me angry(er).
November 26, 2025
And this is how we end up living in the world that Tim Winton describes in Juice...
December 31, 2025
god this is depressing
January 7, 2026
Important review of the enormous Goliath style power Woodside (and Kerry Stokes) have over the state of WA and Federal politics.
January 16, 2026
Totally on Wilkinson's side here, but 'gas company promotes its own interests' hardly justifies that title, let alone anyone's pearl-clutching shock.
February 3, 2026
I think it supports what everyone was already thinking.
Read
February 6, 2026Australia emits a lot of pollution.
January 13, 2026
An excellent summary of the power and state capture capabilities of a huge fossil fuel company. A good reference for those involved in the seemingly endless debate over climate change in Australia. Definitely worth a read to get the side of the story that you won't get from the Murdoch Lie Factory!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews