Federal andNorthern TerritoryMPs have called on the Albanese government to investigate concerns raised about the consulting activities of Good Advice and its client, the gas company Empire Energy.
Independent senators Lidia Thorpe and David Pocock, as well as the federal and Northern Territory Greens, have called for an “urgent” investigation aftera story by Guardian Australiabased on a major leak of Northern Land Council files, correspondence and recordings.
The leaked files contain claims that traditional owners were offered financial benefits if they agreed to let Empire Energy sell “appraisal gas” – which is gas collected during the exploration phase – from its Carpentaria pilot project in the Beetaloo basin.
They also reveal serious concerns among traditional owners and bureaucrats about the lobbying activities of Empire Energy, Good Advice and several members of the NLC’s full council, who were employed as advisers by the consulting firm in an individual capacity.
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Good Advice is a Darwin-based consulting firm whose sole director is Greg McDonald, a former NLC resources and energy branch manager. The company was registered in April 2023, shortly after McDonald left the land council, and its work involves helping gas companies navigate their relationships with traditional owners in the Top End. McDonald has recruited several members of the NLC’s full council, which is made up of 83 Aboriginal councillors from the Top End.
According to claims in the leaked material, Good Advice, on behalf of Empire Energy, hosted meetings with traditional owners, company executives and at least two NLC councillors in August 2024 that ran an agenda favourable to the gas company’s aims and presented unrealistic promises of large royalties and other benefits.
Traditional owners were allegedly told payments could be agreed privately with the gas company, outside the legislated land rights process overseen by the land council.
The leaked material also included claims that signatures were gathered and attached to a letter to the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority urging the authority’s chief executive, Benedict Scambary, to issue an authority certificate Empire required for working around sacred sites “as soon as possible”.
The letter contradicted earlier advice AAPA had been given from several of the signatories and when officials contacted some of the traditional owners to clarify their wishes they said they did not agree with the letter’s contents.
When Guardian Australia contacted Scambary, he said: “The custodians were not aware of what they had signed, and were alarmed by the letter’s denial of their concerns about cultural heritage.” According to the leaked material, one of the signatories thought he was merely signing an attendance sheet.
Thorpe, a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman, has previously asked questions in parliament about the relationship between Good Advice, the gas industry and some NLC councillors and whether there were potential conflicts of interest in those relationships.
“I have been asking about this issue in multiple Senate estimates and inquiries for over a year,” she said.
“Free, prior and informed consent is an important legal concept for First Peoples enshrined in international law – it means consultation must be free from any corporate influence.
“There must be a proper investigation into these matters so we can understand just how much of an influence gas companies have over First Peoples and our representative bodies, in the NT and elsewhere,” she said.
“If federal Labor prioritised First Peoples’ rights over the interests of the fossil fuel industry, they would ensure that these matters get properly investigated and those responsible are held to account.”
Pocock said the revelations were concerning and “warrant close scrutiny”.
“The government should consider an investigation, or a referral to the National Anti‑Corruption Commission, to ensure that any questions about the integrity of these dealings are properly examined,” he said.
“Gas companies seeking to operate anywhere in Australia should be held to the highest standards of transparency and accountability. They must respect the consultation processes that protect communities and ensure benefits are shared fairly.”
Greens leader and First Nations spokesperson, Larissa Waters, said the party supported calls from First Nations and environmental organisations for an investigation.
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“Rather than handing over taxpayer dollars to Empire Energy, the federal government should be supporting stakeholder calls for … the gas company and its consultants, Good Advice, to be investigated by our national corruption watchdog.”
Kat McNamara, the Greens member for Nightcliff in the NT parliament, also called for an “urgent” federal investigation.
“This exploitative industry cannot be trusted.Frackingcannot continue under these current conditions,” she said.
“Across the NT we continue to see the revolving door from government or statutory bodies to the private sector. To prevent community members from being taken advantage of, we must introduce stronger regulations.”
Guardian Australia approached the minister forIndigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, for comment.
An Empire Energy spokesperson told Guardian Australia the company has “a long history of respectful engagement with traditional owners over the last decade”. He said it had held more than 30 on-country meetings and continued to consult traditional owners about current and future works.
The company also rejected allegations put to it in a September 2024 letter by the NLC’s chair, Matthew Ryan, that it was trying to “circumvent processes under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act using consultants associated with Good Advice or Mr McDonald”, including claims that Good Advice facilitated meetings for Empire and was “attempting to pass off the meetings as Land Council meetings”.
In a letter of reply to Ryan, Empire’s managing director, Alex Underwood, said the company was not seeking to circumvent the Land Rights Act and had not engaged in private negotiations with traditional owners via Good Advice. He said traditional owners were informed at meetings he attended, and to the best of his knowledge at all other meetings, that their purpose was for information and discussion and they were not official meetings of the land council.
Guardian Australia sent detailed questions to McDonald via email and post, to give him the opportunity to respond to the claims made about Good Advice’s consulting work. He declined to reply.
The NLC’s chief executive, Yuseph Deen, said NLC councillors were considered “part-time public officials” who often wore many hats and “are entitled to engage in outside employment opportunities in an individual capacity”.
He said the land council “provides regular governance training for council members, to ensure that members are aware of their duty to declare and manage conflicts of interest appropriately”.
“When council members are engaged in an individual capacity, they are not authorised to speak for, or on behalf of, the NLC.”
On Thursday, after formal consultations overseen by the NLC, Empire Energyannouncedtraditional owners had consented to the sale of appraisal gas from its Carpentaria pilot project.
Empire Energy recently changed its name to Beetaloo Energy.
Do you know more? Email lisa.cox@theguardian.com