Why do we still have Tony Abbott as Prime Minister of Australia? Perhaps we should blame rightwing Christian lobbyists

ABC News 16 March 2015:

ABC's Four Corners program has revealed the campaign was run by lobby group the National Civic Council (NCC), which emailed thousands of its members and associates, urging them to contact the Liberal MPs.

It follows the leak of a confidential message from party treasurer Philip Higginson pushing for Peta Credlin's removal as Mr Abbott's chief of staff.

The emails link to a live webpage hosted by sister organisation, The Australian Family Association, where almost 100 Liberal MPs could be contacted with a single click.

MPs described being deluged with emails leading up to the leadership spill.

"In the last few days the emails have been overwhelmingly flooding the office saying all this nonsense about leadership has gone far too far, and the emails are now overwhelmingly saying 'stick to the team you've got'," Senator Eric Abetz told ABC Hobart at the time.

Four Corners uncovered the campaign after a detailed instruction email was inadvertently sent to a Sydney barrister.

NCC vice president Patrick Byrne, who organised the email campaign, said it was effective.

"Our email campaign would've gone out to maybe 10,000 people; I'm not exactly sure and I don't have direct feedback, but I think it's had some influence," he told Four Corners.

One NCC email, obtained by Four Corners, warned about the possibility of either Malcolm Turnbull or Julie Bishop being elected to the leadership.

"Whatever his failings, the alternatives are Malcolm Turnbull, who failed as leader, and Julie Bishop, who was forced to resign as shadow treasurer due to dissatisfaction within Liberal ranks over her performance," one email read.

The emails credit Mr Abbott with holding the line on same-sex marriage and repealing the carbon tax.

The Prime Minister is held in high regard by the NCC.

Mr Abbott described its founder, Bob Santamaria, as, "my first political mentor", in his book Battlelines.

National Civic Council website here.

BACKGROUND

The Monthly April 2007:

In the aftermath of the Great Split in the Labor Party, in 1954-55, the Catholic-based anti-communist wing was driven out of all the states, other than New South Wales. The anti-communists, led by Bob Santamaria, then received the cold shoulder from Rome. They soldiered on, forming one of the most determined political forces in Australia. Through his organisation, the National Civic Council, and his newspaper column, his TV spot on the Nine Network and his regular contact with government ministers, Santamaria exerted the kind of influence which political activists and lobbyists these days can only dream of.

So what has former Howard Government Minister Peter Reith been doing since he was exposed as lobbyist for the gas industry

When No Fibs reported this on 1 November 2013 it probably surprised very few people:

It was interesting to see the opinion piece written by Peter Reith for The Drum – Fracking scare campaigns threaten our prosperity – especially considering Reith is a paid political lobbyist and chairman of the Victorian Government’s task force on the eastern gas market.

“The public debate is soon mired in myriad false claims, partly because government has not ensured the public is fairly informed and because some activists have other political agendas,” writes Reith.

To ensure that the public is fairly informed, and agendas and vested interests are properly tabled, it should be noted that Peter Reith is a lobbyist for First State Advisors and Consultants Pty Ltd.

Who does First State Advisers lobby for?           

A full list of Reith’s clients is published on the government website.

Two major players in the coal seam gas industry are Reith’s clients: Thiess and the NSW Aboriginal Land Council.

Thiess has won a $1.8 billion contract from CSG producer QGC for the construction of gas compression facilities in Queensland’s Surat Basin.

Another of Reith’s lobbying clients, the NSW Aboriginal Land Council has applied to explore for coal seam gas beneath 40 per cent of the state, sparking outrage from indigenous and non-indigenous people alike….

It made the Gas Market Task Force final report predictable in its pro-unconventional gas conclusion:

Overall, the Taskforce considers that governments and industry should take collective action and adopt a greater sense of urgency to ensure the eastern gas market can adapt and take advantage of the significant structural changes occurring.

The focus of the Taskforce’s proposals for immediate action include facilitating new gas supplies and making the most of the sizeable gas resources available in eastern Australia. The Taskforce also supports a greater coordinated effort to implement existing national gas market reforms.

Potentially, a more ambitious package of integrated gas market reforms with the objective of increasing competition, liquidity and transparency in the eastern market could build on the existing national gas market reforms, but this requires more work and rigorous cost benefit analysis.

Finally, as unconventional gas makes an increasingly significant contribution to eastern market gas supply, strong leadership and community engagement is required. This will help to build confidence in the gas industry, which is becoming a leading national economic opportunity for Australia over the coming decades.

So what has Peter Keaston Reith arch-lobbyist been up to since then?

Well, he appears to no longer be a listed special counsel for First State Advisors and Consultants at federal or states level.

However, he remains a lobbyist for Bechtel Management Company Ltd, a company which has been on his client list at least since the time he headed the Victorian task force.

Bechtel Management Company Ltd is a civil engineering/construction subsidiary of the Bechtel Corporation which has coal, oil and gas projects around the world. Including in the Pilbara region of West Australia and the Gladstone region in Queensland. 

The parent company claims its Curtis Island LNG project off the Gladstone coast; represents the greatest concentration of Bechtel projects anywhere in the world.

In its 2012 annual report Bechtel explained that; On Curtis Island, in eastern Australia, we are building three world-scale plants to process the region’s vast coal seam gas reserves.

Bechtel Corporation though the Bechtel Power Corporation is also a member of the UK Nuclear Industry Association.

Reith continues to talk up ‘natural’ gas and remains misleading about his relationship with the industry, as his 25 February 2015 article in The Sydney Morning Herald reveals:

I became interested in natural gas at the request of the Victorian government, which was concerned at the impact of gas sales to China and its implications for the eastern Australia gas market. The massive developments in Queensland are already imposing transitional effects. There is a real prospect Sydney could suffer gas shortages causing major dislocation to business. Gas prices are already rising and it could take at least three years to supply additional gas to Sydney if everything goes well and if the government holds its nerve.

Coal seam/tight gas miner Metgasco Limited's major shareholder makes the news again as Australian Senate inquiry into Queensland Government continues

Metgasco Limited's major shareholder ERM Power gets a mention in the Brisbane Times on 24 November 2014:

State Energy Minister Mark McArdle held a Liberal National Party fundraiser at the offices of one of the nation's largest energy companies, but did not declare it in his ministerial diary.

The 2013 event was held in the boardroom of ERM Power, one of many meetings between the minister, the energy company and lobbying firm SAS Group, according to documents seen by Fairfax Media.

A spokesman for Mr McArdle said the minister always complied with the reporting obligations set down by Premier Campbell Newman's demand for the most transparent and accountable administraton in Queensland's history, but the boardroom fundraiser did not fall into the category of a reportable event.

"Fundraising is carried out by the party organisation in strict compliance with state and federal laws," the statement says.

A spokesman for ERM Power said political fundraising was a "legitimate exercise of the freedom of political association and expression".

"ERM Power complies with the regulatory framework in Queensland for such activities, making the required disclosures under the Electoral Act," he said.

The documents, which the Electrical Trades Union is expected to submit to the Senate Inquiry in to the Queensland Government, show meetings and meals between the government, ERM executives and their lobbyists stretch back to 2012, soon after the LNP took office.

Locations included Minister McArdle's office, the LNP state conference and the Queensland Club.

Mr McArdle's spokesman said the minister regularly met with a wide range of stakeholders in the energy and water sectors.

So far this year:

* Mr McArdle met ERM Power representatives at The Queensland Club on February 5 to discuss "renewable energy" on February 5;

* The state government announced on March 6 it was axing the 8 cent solar feed-in-tariff paid to 40,000 Queenslanders in favour of a system where customers negotiated directly with retailers; and

* On March 11 Mr McArdle was the guest at a lunch hosted by SAS Group in the lobbying company's boardroom. 

SAS Group did not declare the event on the contact register maintained by the state's Integrity Commissioner but Mr McArdle did, listing its purpose in his diary as "boardroom lunch" and naming the lobbyists as the organiser......

Fairfax Media last year revealed that ERM, which had previously predominately donated to the Labor Party, had donated more than $25,000 to the LNP since 2010, with $1500 going to the Labor Party in the same period. 

The government appointed the company's non-executive chair, Tony Bellas, as head of its Independent Review Panel into the electricity sector in May 2012.

An ERM Power spokesman said the company, whose Brisbane office was opened by Premier Campbell Newman in April 2013, was a major Queensland employer and ASX listed entity and as a matter of good business practice maintained appropriate relationships with all of its stakeholders, including the government and opposition.

The Senate Inquiry into the Queensland government will hold its next public hearing on November 28.

The question a number of voters on the NSW North Coast are asking is: How much is ERM Power donating to the NSW Liberal and Nationals election campaigns ahead of the March 2015 state election?

Because unless the current Liberal-Nationals Coalition Government headed by Premier Baird wins re-election Metgasco Limited will lose all its North Coast coal seam gas tenements and ERM Power the value of its investment.

BACKGROUND

Details of the Senate Select Committee inquiry into Certain Aspects of Queensland Government Administration related to Commonwealth Government Affairs can be found here.

Ex-News Corp journalist & Abbott propagandist Steve Lewis now a lobbyist with Newgate Communications

Steve Lewis, the former News Corp journalist who ran the ‘Abbott in Opposition’ political spin on many subjects, has joined Newgate Communications as a senior advisor. 

This company is a lobbyist at federal level for twenty-one companies – including Whitehaven Coal which has been mentioned in evidence in NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Operation Jasper and Operation Spicer investigations.

Managing partner of the Australian branch of Newgate Communication is Brian Tyson who worked as a press secretary for the Greiner and Fahey NSW Coalition Governments - and states in his Linked in entry that he worked with then NSW Planning and Energy Minister Robert Webster.

Webster coincidentally is scheduled to appear at an ICAC Operation Spicer hearing today.

Is Peter Reith splitting hairs in the hope no one will pursue his connection with the gas industry in Australia?

On 7 November 2013 an ABC News article contained these statements:

The Government has been widely criticised for not making public Mr Reith's report, which was commissioned by former premier Ted Baillieu in January. The ABC has learnt that all the taskforce members, except for Mr Reith, represent energy companies or associated industries and lobby groups.

While this interesting exchange turned up on Twitter on 4 November:

Mark Anning ‏1@EarthMedia 4 Nov

@Peter_Reith did you see this? Vested Interest? Reith is a paid lobbyist for Coal Seam Gas Coy's #auspol #csg #nswpol http://nofibs.com.au/2013/11/01/lobbyists-public-commentary-reith-spotlight-mark-anning-1earthmedia-reports/ …

Peter Reith ‏@Peter_Reith 4 Nov

@1EarthMedia you have your facts wrong. Best not to follow people who enjoy conspiracy theories.

Mark Anning ‏@1EarthMedia 4 Nov 9:09 PM - 4 Nov 13 

@Peter_Reith Are you saying you are not a paid lobbyist for Coal Seam Gas? #auspol #csg #nswpol #agchatoz #springst http://nofibs.com.au/2013/11/01/lobbyists-public-commentary-reith-spotlight-mark-anning-1earthmedia-reports/ …

Peter de Voil ‏@skroggitz 5 Nov

@Peter_Reith Which facts are wrong? Working for @thiessgroup, or ALC? #auspol @1EarthMedia

So is former Howard Government minister and active Liberal Party member, Peter Keaston Reith, far removed from any connection with liquefied natural gas and coal seam gas and therefore above suspicion when it comes to the Victorian Premier's Gas Market Taskforce he chaired?

Mr. Reith is still a special counsel at First State Advisors & Consultants Pty Ltd, having joined that 'team' in late 2012.

I am not sure if in his capacity as special counsel he actively lobbies on behalf of Theiss Pty Ltd or the NSW Aboriginal Land Council.

However, as a sole trader he is currently listed as the official lobbyist for Bechtel Management Company Ltd a civil engineering/construction subsidiary of the Bechtel Corporation which has coal, oil and gas interests around the world. Including gas projects in the Pilbara region of West Australia and the Gladstone region in Queensland. 

This subsidiary company appears to be his only client as of 2 July 2013.

The parent company Bechtel Corporation claims its Curtis Island LNG project off the Gladstone coast;  represents the greatest concentration of Bechtel projects anywhere in the world.

In its 2012 annual report Bechtel explained that; On Curtis Island, in eastern Australia, we are building three world-scale plants to process the region’s vast coal seam gas reserves.

Bechtel Corporation though the Bechtel Power Corporation is also a member of the UK Nuclear Industry Association.

So unless Peter Children Overboard Reith suddenly resigned as a lobbyist once the Gas Market Taskforce was established in 2012 but forgot to inform state and federal agencies, he is running true to form and being less than honest with both the twitterverse and mainstream media when discussing his connections with industries associated with energy supply or coal seam gas.