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RUBY:

From Schwartz Media, I’m Ruby Jones. This is 7am.

Last week News Corp tabloids ran front page stories all around the country, saying a similar thing. That Australia needed to “step on the gas”, or else we’ll face blackouts and soaring electricity prices.

But you had to turn the page to find out that the coverage, labelled as an “exclusive” special report, was in fact sponsored by major gas companies.

The Greens are now planning to call Murdoch media executives before a Senate inquiry into Greenwashing, saying the reporting was no more than propaganda masquerading as news.

Today, Greens spokesperson for Communications and Chair of the Senate inquiry into Greenwashing Sarah Hanson-Young, on gas warfare and the power of the fossil-fuel lobby.

It’s Wednesday, December 11.

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RUBY:

So Senator Hanson-Young, welcome to 7am. It's great to have you on the show.

SARAH:

Thanks for having me.

RUBY:

So I thought we could start with the reports we saw recently in multiple News Corp papers about the importance of the gas industry. What did you think when you first saw those front pages?

SARAH:

Well, it was pretty extraordinary, wasn't it? The idea that big gas lobby groups industry can take over front pages of daily newspapers and have such sway inside. It was obviously dressed up as news even though it wasn't and frankly it looked pretty much like propaganda to me.

RUBY:

So if you looked past the front page inside the papers, there was this note that what was running was actually it was an advertorial so sponsored by APA group, which is this gas infrastructure business, and several gas companies as well. Do you think that enough was done to disclose that, the fact that this was a paid advertisement rather than a straight news report, as it might have seemed on first glance?

SARAH:

No, not enough was done at all. And that was how it was designed. It was designed to look like news, even though it was just propaganda. You had to, kind of, you know, go and find the small print. And this is a really concerning element. I mean, this really shows the power of the fossil fuel industry in Australia, the relationship they have with the media, particularly the Murdoch press, and, you know, in other countries, you know, you might call what's going on here reminiscent of a Petro state. But of course, what might be seen as corruption elsewhere, here in Australia seems like it's, you know, doing business.

RUBY:

You've said that you plan to call Murdoch executives before the Senate to answer questions from this committee investigation into greenwashing, of which you are the chair. Tell me what you are trying to achieve here.

SARAH:

Well, we've been running this greenwashing inquiry for over a year now, and it's been extraordinary, actually, to really be able to drill down to the level of greenwashing that we see in every day, kind of, media and advertising in Australia. And a lot of it is coming from the fossil-fuel industry as they're desperate to, kind of, generate and keep hold of a social licence. You know, this is just the latest example, frankly. We've seen in recent months the exposé of the gas industry taking out sponsorship of MasterChef, we've looked at that through our greenwashing inquiry. And this is an industry that's not trying to sell a product. They're selling and promoting the idea of fossil-fuels being good and gas being good. They're trying to purchase a social licence.

RUBY:

Have you had any response at all from anyone in News Corp?

SARAH:

Not as yet. And I think, you know, we will press go on this in the new year when the committee can reconvene and we can run this hearing. But it's pretty blatant and I guess that's why I said at the beginning, you know, in other countries, I think this would be called out as corruption. The power of this industry in the media, the power in politics and the influence they have over our parliament and politicians. But in Australia, this isn't corruption. In Australia, this is just doing business for the gas industry.

RUBY:

Would you compel them to attend if they refused to come?

SARAH:

Well, the Senate inquiry and, under the normal Senate committee rules, we actually have very powerful rules around compelling and subpoenaing witnesses. And, you know, I hope News Corp don't have to be subpoenaed and they can just... that they're prepared to, you know, stand by it and come and answer questions that we ask. But we'll see. If we need to compel them, we will.

RUBY:

Coming up after the break - how the Greens say the fossil fuel lobby influenced environmental reform.

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RUBY:

So let's talk about the negotiations that the Greens were involved in very recently on the Nature Positive legislation. Just how close did you come to striking a deal with the Environment Minister, with Tanya Plibersek?

SARAH:

This is a really good example of the power that the fossil-fuel industry have, not just through the media, but then how they use that influence in the media to get to politicians. And you know, I spent months negotiating with Tanya Plibersek as the Environment Minister. The Government, of course, had already weakened their environmental policies earlier this year. They promised the electorate that they were going to fix Australia's environment laws, that environment was back on the agenda. But instead of doing all that in April, under huge pressure from the fossil fuel industry and the mining lobby, particularly in WA, the Labor government dumped all the hard stuff and just kind of were left with a shell of a bureaucracy, and that's the Environment Protection Agency. And that was the piece of legislation that we were left to, you know, kind of, negotiate and see what we could get through the Parliament. I was back and forth with Tanya Plibersek many times but of course, even that watered down version was seen as a threat by the fossil-fuel industry and the big miners and the big loggers, and they swung into action. Well, you know, a minute to midnight when the government and I were, you know, seeing what could be done, what could pass the Parliament, before you know it, fossil-fuel industry is on the phone to the Prime Minister's office. There's editorials being written in newspapers and, lo and behold, the fossil-fuel industry crow only hours after the Prime Minister had told us there was no deal.

RUBY:

So your claim is that the industry had the ear of the Prime Minister. Why do you think that he killed the bill?

SARAH:

Look, I think the industry's had the ear of many politicians in Canberra and, you know, you see them walking around the building on any individual given sitting day, you see them hanging out at the coffee shop, you see them walk, their lobbyists, walking the corridors. They have had the ear of the Prime Minister, yes, but they've had the ear of Peter Dutton. And I think, you know, one of the scariest things about all of this and you look at the propaganda in the Murdoch press last week, you look at how they crowed after these environmental reforms were dumped, the fossil-fuel industry don't want the Greens in balance of power, but they probably want Peter Dutton more than even the Labor Party because Peter Dutton will bend over backwards even further.

RUBY:

The legislation, it hasn't been withdrawn though, it is still listed in the Senate. Do you think it'll be revisited next year?

SARAH:

Well, look, I… it is the unfinished business of this Parliament. It was promised to be done. What is on the table is a minuscule amount of what was promised. I'll work hard to get some real law reform through before Parliament ends and the election's on. But the government's got to have the guts to do that. And whether it's bowing to the pressures of the fossil-fuel industry, the Murdoch press, The Nightly, which I might say, you know, backed by Gina Rinehart, this new newspaper, you want to think about the power that the fossil-fuel industry and the mining lobby have in Australia. It is extraordinary. Their claws reach into all of these different parts of media and and politics and the Greens won't be bullied by them. But I'm not convinced that either the Labor Party or the Liberal Party will stare them down.

RUBY:

To to speak a bit more broadly, a lot of legislation did go through during the last week of Parliament on the back of deals made by the Greens. There was the Help to Buy scheme. You know, in the past we've also seen the Safeguard Mechanism, Housing Affordability Fund, so it does seem like, in general at this point in time, there is this willingness on the part of the Greens to work with the Government to pass laws. Is there also a risk here that if you do that, that the Greens will not have enough of a point of difference with this Government that does seem to be increasingly unpopular? How much of a concern is that to you as we get closer to the election?

SARAH:

Look, our job is to push Labor to be better, hold their feet to the fire and get outcomes that are good for the community and are good for the environment. And I know people, while they're disappointed, deeply disappointed in Labor, and, you know, want them to be better, they're terrified of Peter Dutton and what a Liberal Coalition government could do, backed by the likes of Gina Rinehart, the Murdoch press and following in the footsteps and taking their cues from Donald Trump, I might say. The hard right have a licence like I've never seen before under the leadership of Peter Dutton and that's terrifying to a lot of people. So, you know, our job is to hold Labor to account, to get outcomes for the environment, to work hard to get outcomes for the community. You know, I think there's... people see the difference, you know? The Greens are trusted on the environment, we are trusted to call it out when it needs to be called out and we're trusted to stand up for for people over profit. We're trusted to do that and we're expected to do that.

RUBY:

The next election seems likely to deliver a minority government. Adam Bandt has said that he is pushing for some sort of power sharing deal with Labor. That's what he will be doing. Do you think that Labor is likely to agree to any kind of formal arrangement?

SARAH:

I think minority government and a parliament that has to work together to negotiate, to hear a diversity of voices, to make sure the community and our environment is represented, is a good Parliament for Australia. And we got to be realistic. Look at, look at where, how the community votes. You know, at the last election Labor got their lowest result that they've had since World War II. You know, less than a third of the country voted for the Labor Party, around a third voted for the Coalition and a third voted for Greens and independents, so other parties and voices. Australians want more than just this duopoly of Labor and Liberal. And I think a minority parliament, a minority government, a parliament that has to negotiate, that has to work together, will be one that delivers better outcomes for people.

RUBY:

But if you have the Prime Minister pulling out of negotiations like he did over these environmental laws at the very last minute, it is a little hard to see how there would be enough goodwill for there to be a, kind of, formal working relationship with the Greens in the next Parliament.

SARAH:

The Greens are up for it. We actually are pretty good at negotiating. We don't get everything we want, but we do get a lot and it'll take some maturity and some humbleness from Labor. Absolutely. But you know, this is what, if this is what the community votes for, this is what we need to deliver. And a stronger green voice, both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, and gives the community the insurance that we will be in there to fight for them and to fight for a sustainable and green future, not just doing the bidding of the vested interests. I mean, I know we've talked a lot about the fossil fuel lobby here but, you know, you could have exactly the same conversation with me about what's going on in terms of a gambling reform.

There was a big promise to crack down on the harms of gambling, to stop the advertising of gambling, which is so insidious in our community. You know, just like years ago, we banned tobacco advertising because smoking and tobacco is harmful to people. Didn't say you didn't, you couldn't smoke. It's just… we don't allow these dangerous and harmful products to be promoted and advertised. Despite promising, Labor and Liberal have gone weak at the knees because of the vested interests in the gambling lobby. And the only people standing up and calling this out are the Greens and independents. And it's because we can't be bought in the same way as the two major parties.

RUBY:

Senator, thank you so much for your time.

SARAH:

Thank you.

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RUBY:

Also in the news...

26 year old Luigi Nicholas Mangione has been charged with the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Mangione was arrested after being spotted in a McDonalds in Pennsylvania, where police claim he was in possession of a gun, silencer, fake IDs and a handwritten document saying, quote, “I do apologise for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done”.

And,

15 bodies have been found in the notorious Saidnaya prison in Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Tens of thousands of people had been locked up in what Amnesty called a “human slaughterhouse”, charged with political crimes under the Assad regime.

The prisons were thrown open after the rebels forced Assad to flee the country, prompting ordinary Syrians to rush to the prisons in search of family and friends.

I'm Ruby Jones, this is 7am. See you tomorrow.

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