Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists disrupted the start of the Tour Down Under (TDU) Men’s Stage 5 race in Stirling on January 25 in protest at the fossil fuel company Santos’ sponsorship of the event. Five activists were arrested following the action.
XR South Australia also protested the TDU at Willunga and co-organised a rally in Tarntanyangga/Victoria Square with Conservation South Australia.
Cathy Cox and Lucille Bruyand from XR SA told Green Left that they wanted to highlight Santos’ dangerous sportswashing practices,
“Santos and the fossil fuel industry more broadly have merely picked up where Big Tobacco left off; they are using sportswashing to buy public approval and discourage questioning of their abominable track record as a major polluter and a greenhouse gas emitter.”
Cox said XR SA initiated 14 protest actions, including two where they tried to delay the start of the race. Four activists were arrested at Stirling.
“Santos is cashing in on oil and gas operations that drive the worsening of bushfires, floods and dangerous heatwaves. It should not be allowed to greenwash its image by attaching itself to a beloved community event like the TDU.”
The greatest security threat today comes from climate change, Cathy said, and oil, gas, and coal are key drivers. “Fossil fuel execs have known this for decades. Any sponsorship by fossil fuel corporations at this stage in the climate emergency is unconscionable and needs to be outlawed.
“Fossil fuel lobbying has white-anted state and federal governments. If our elected representatives focused on their basic duty of care, they would put an end to all fossil fuel sponsorship and lobbying — urgently.”
Bruyand said Events SA, the government’s major events body, granted Santos naming rights for the TDU which, she said, is “a level of benefit not granted to any other sponsor across international cycling and all to buy public consent for their destructive operations.”
Asked about the public’s reaction to the protests, she said it’s mixed. Some event goers and riders show support on the streets, and others grumble or become hostile.
“Our disruptive actions aim to … challenge and encourage the public to adopt views previously thought of as extreme. Direct disruption of public events has an additional aim — to interfere with business-as-usual and to make it more difficult and costly to manage an event in a way that would prevent disruption.”
Cox said after five years of XR protests, many are rejecting sportswashing. This year XR was joined by Fossil Free SA and XR also supported other groups’ protests including Conservation SA and smaller community-based groups.
“Professional cyclists are increasingly speaking up about the impact of more frequent extreme heat — not only on the events, but also on training requirements. They report that competitors are reluctant to speak out about fossil fuel companies using their sport to greenwash their name because it risks jeopardising their sponsorships.
“Ultimately the cyclists’ physical response to the extreme heat levels tells its own tale of an uncertain future for the race.”
Santos, along with other fossil fuel corporations such as Hancock Prospecting and Woodside are well known for sportswashing. So it would take a huge campaign, like the campaign against big tobacco, to force corporate sponsors out of sports.
Bruyand said XR activists hold regular weekly protests outside Santos HQ because it is the largest fossil fuel company in the state. “Their operations include the Cooper basin oil and gas extraction sites, a gas fractionation, oil processing and shipping facility at Port Bonython (maintained by the state government at great cost) and its corporate offices at 60 Flinders Street.
“Their network of oil and gas pipes crossing sensitive land & marine habitats is extensive. Santos has a habit of hiding uncomfortable truths. It was previously found to have covered up an oil spill responsible for killing dolphins (off the WA coast). It also failed to report a 20-year-old gas leak from a huge gas tank in the Northern Territory last year.
“Santos also extracts gas in the Narrabri and Pilliga Forest in NSW. It has major gas operations in the NT; the Barossa undersea project north of Darwin has been described as one of the most polluting in existence; the Beetaloo Basin project poses a threat to NT aquifers.
“Santos drills for oil in Alaska and gas in Papua New Guinea. It only reports a fraction of its greenhouse gas emissions — the Scope 1 and 2 emissions resulting from the extraction and transport of their products. Much more significant are the Scope 3 emissions, from when the product is used.
“All the emissions, in any place in the world, contribute to global atmospheric warming, which scientists have established as one of the root causes of the ongoing algal bloom. It is worth pointing out that the majority of Santos gas is exported overseas, creating emissions which come back to haunt us as climate disasters.”
Peter Malinauskas’ Labor government is committed to Santos taking a leading role in South Australia, opposing a take-over of Santos by an international consortium led by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company subsidiary, XRG.
“It has been a very tight relationship and XR argues that it is unethical. The Premier’s brother, Robert Malinauskas, held a position as Head of External Affairs in Santos until 2024,” Cox said.
“The Premier has gone out of his way to defend Santos, repeating misleading claims about employment and benefits to the economy, even spruiking Santos’ NSW operations (opposed by Traditional Owners and farmers due to forest habitats and underground water systems being jeopardised by Santos gas projects).
In the lead-up to the election on March 21, Cathy said XR will continue to tell the truth and target corporations and politicians who are actively undermining our chances at a liveable future. “Our key climate demands are: No new oil or gas projects; Immediate and urgent phase out of fossil fuels, including a just transition for workers; and citizens’ assemblies to drive change beyond politics.”
“Governments at all levels are failing to tell the truth,” said Cox. “There is strong evidence that fossil fuel corporations are funding political messaging and intentionally drowning out information from scientists and educators.”