Greens repay election donation over fossil fuel ties

“Unlike the major parties, the Greens do not accept corporate donations and disclose all donations over $1,000.”

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A 2021 annual fund letter from Samuel Terry Asset Management included a section titled “Why We Like the Oil Sector: Investing in a Declining Industry,” detailing the reasons for investing in Horizon and other oil companies.

“The evaporation of capital willing to invest in the sector creates opportunities; Select companies offer attractive risk-adjusted returns based on much lower oil prices,” the letter said. “We agree that a transition to renewable energy is inevitable and desirable. However, the reality is that even under the most optimistic scenarios (from the planet’s perspective), oil consumption will only decline slowly for the foreseeable future.”

Woollard, who made the donation, said he has donated to other parties in the past and his firm has also invested in renewable energy companies.

“I make political donations in hopes of improving NSW and Australia,” he said.

“I run a fund management company, not a fossil fuel company. Our fund has invested in many industries, including renewable energy… I agree with Greens that fossil fuel companies should not be able to donate to political parties.”

The payback comes less than three weeks after the NSW general election, in which the Greens contest a number of seats in the House of Commons and work to consolidate the inner city electorate, including Balmain and Newtown.

Both NSW Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet and Labor leader Chris Minns ruled out accepting Green Party support for government formation on Wednesday.

The Green Party spokesman said NSW has the toughest donation laws in the country “thanks to the Green Party” and said the party will continue to work to push fossil fuel donations and gambling out of politics.

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