19 February 2025
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (17:23): I rise to speak on the Public Finance and Audit (Fossil Fuel Sponsorships) Amendment Bill, and in so doing I want to commend the leadership of my colleague the Hon. Tammy Franks, who has put this forward and who really, I think, has belled the cat on some of the very concerning associations between some of our state's big events and fossil fuel companies. It is of serious concern to the Greens to see fossil fuel companies being able to hijack sporting events as a way of earning their social licence and one example of this that is, of course, of great concern to the Greens is the Tour Down Under.
The Tour Down Under showcases South Australia to the world and there is no question that it is a boost to our local economy. It has the added benefits of promoting healthy lifestyles and sustainable modes of transport, yet the Tour Down Under's major naming rights partner since 2010 has been Santos, a fossil fuel company.
It is appalling that a major cycling event, which should be about strengthening our state's green credentials, is being sponsored by a fuel company—a polluting fossil fuel company. We know that fossil fuels are not just bad for our environment—and the Tour Down Under is actually about promoting green transport—but are also bad for community health. Again, the Tour Down Under is about promoting active transport and promoting cycling.
This association is of serious concern and Santos' sponsorship of this high-profile event buys considerable social licence. It allows the company to greenwash its polluting activities and paint itself as being community minded. Indeed, this is an issue that I raised during my time on the Adelaide City Council. It has been a long-term issue of concern for the Greens. Surely, the South Australian Tourism Commission can find an alternative sponsor for this event. Why does it have to be Santos? It is not appropriate.
An Australian Conservation Foundation report revealed back in 2018 that 19 gas projects and facilities in Australia accounted for 81 million tonnes of climate pollution. Santos is part of that. Add this to the emissions from gas-fired power stations and our role as the world's leading exporter of liquefied natural gas and it is clear that Australian gas is a major driver of climate disruption.
In October of 2018, the IPCC special report warned that to keep global warming under 1.5° we must end our reliance on fossil fuels as quickly as possible. Expansion of the gas industry is simply incompatible with this target. Why on earth is the Tour Down Under, our state's premier green event, being powered by Santos in this way? Why are we allowing that brand association?
I urge the Malinauskas government to think differently about this. This is an opportunity for the government to put their money where their mouth is and to actually urge partnerships that are going to further the South Australian brand. Dumping fossil fuel sponsorship would show real climate leadership and I know that the government is keen for South Australia to host the COP. If they are serious about that, can they really justify having this association with Santos? Are they really serious about having the COP in SA when Santos is the major sponsor of the Tour Down Under? That is a joke.
They really have to put their money where their mouth is. A state that prides itself on its environmental and renewable energy credentials should be a leader in ending fossil fuel sponsors and this would set a precedent for other jurisdictions in Australia and across the world. Industries that are fuelling the climate crisis should have no place in sports.
This is not just an issue for us in South Australia. In the UK, several arts institutions have dumped fossil fuel sponsors, including the Tate, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and the National Galleries of Scotland. The Edinburgh Science Festival has also imposed a blanket ban on sponsorship deals with fossil fuel companies. In Western Australia there is now growing public pressure for Fringe World to end its sponsorship with Woodside and for the Perth Festival to dump Chevron.
One has to question why fossil fuel companies are so desperate to associate themselves with popular events. They are doing it because we know that they are losing social licence. They are doing it because they know that the jig is up, that people across our country are recognising that we are in the middle of a climate crisis and that we have to do something, and no amount of airbrushing and corporate spin is going to change that reality.
Another reason for South Australia to disassociate with fossil fuel companies is the direct impact that global heating is already having on the Tour Down Under, which will only be intensified as the climate crisis worsens. In 2020, the Vicious Cycle report, which was commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation, revealed the impact of the climate emergency on cycling, and in particular on the Tour Down Under. It concluded that the impact of climate change on the event and on the sport in general is already evident, with extreme heat threatening the safety of participants and resulting in race disruptions—and, of course, all South Australians have been dealing with extreme heat and record temperatures over February.
Held in mid-summer in a state that is highly vulnerable to climate impact, such as heatwaves and bushfires, the future of the Tour Down Under is being, ironically, threatened by fossil fuel companies like Santos. These are the companies that are driving the climate crisis and these are the sorts of companies that are making events like the Tour Down Under less viable and sustainable into the future.
I should say, of course, that the Tour Down Under is not the only event to have questionable associations. Who could forget LIV Golf? I was not one of the members clamouring to join the Premier at his press conference on the weekend, and that is because LIV Golf, the tournament, is backed by Saudi Arabia and its public investment fund. The tournament has been widely criticised because of the Saudi government's appalling record on human rights but also its direct ties to the fossil fuel industry—the oil industry.
Saudi Arabia, largely through the public investment fund, has spent billions of dollars on sportswashing by funding sporting tournaments, events like LIV Golf, to distract from its dire catalogue of human rights abuse. I will not cover that ground today because that is beyond the scope of this bill but it is worth noting while the public investment fund is not itself an oil company, its finances are substantially drawn from the major stake in Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia.
In February 2022, Saudi Arabia's crown prince transferred about 4 per cent of Aramco shares, worth about $80 billion, into the public investment fund, which he also chairs, so that is of significant concern.
The PRESIDENT: I thought you were not going to go down this path.
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: Sorry?
The PRESIDENT: I thought you were not going to go down this path because it is not relevant to the current bill we are talking about—
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: Well, the issue of human rights—
The PRESIDENT: —which I very much appreciated at the time, but it did not last long.
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: Mr President, the issue of human rights may not be directly related to the bill but the relationship between fossil fuels and the Saudi government is worth highlighting, along with the myriad human rights abuses that their—
The Hon. T.A. Franks: That's why they need to sportswash.
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: That is right. As the honourable member has pointed out, this is why—
The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Franks, interjections are out of order.
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: —companies like this seek to associate themselves with those that have some level of popularity: so that they can gain favour, so that they can build some level of social licence. According to the Climate Accountability Institute, the oil and gas produced by Aramco, linked to the Saudi government and LIV Golf, was responsible for roughly 4.8 per cent of global emissions in 2018, and about 4.3 per cent of total atmospheric accumulation since 1965. That is the largest of any single firm.
It is estimated that in 2019, Saudi Aramco plans to produce and sell the equivalent of 27 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide between 2018 and 2030. This is an enormous amount, equivalent to 4.7 per cent of the total carbon budget that the IPCC estimated the entire world had left in 2018 for a 50 per cent chance of meeting the Paris Agreement's 1.5° goal.
These are the companies the Malinauskas Labor government is rolling out the red carpet to, without any consideration about human rights, without any consideration of the terrible effects on our climate and on our state brand. Let's not forget that some years ago now one of the first acts of the Malinauskas government was to declare a climate emergency here in this place. I remember that debate, and the Greens welcomed that. But, emergency requires action. It is time for the Malinauskas government to show some leadership here and to dump Santos and to dump this association with fossil fuel companies, and to ensure that our state's big events have sponsors that appropriately reflect the values of our state and our mission to take the climate crisis seriously.