Santos will NOT seek legal costs from Tiwi Islanders after a failed Federal Court bid to suspend the Barossa project over cultural heritage concerns. It comes as the Environmental Defender's Office faces backlash, after it was found to have manipulated the instructions of their Indigenous clients in the federal court case. The federal opposition says the national body should be stripped of funding, while the Northern Territory government is now reviewing its contract with the provider.
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00:00 The Barossa project is back on track after costly delays from a failed legal challenge.
00:07 There's no secret that I don't think the balance is right given that we were delayed for a year or so after we had our project approved.
00:15 While the Federal Court ordered the Tiwi Islands plaintiffs to pay Santos' legal bills,
00:20 CEO Kevin Gallagher says the company will recoup their costs through other avenues.
00:26 That will become evident in time. We're working through those processes.
00:30 The Tiwi elders' lawyers at the Environmental Defender's Office coming under nationwide scrutiny.
00:35 If a coalition government is elected at the next election, we will defund that body because it is a bunch of radical environmentalists.
00:42 I've already spoken to Kate Warden, the Environment Minister, to say we need to have a look at that contract.
00:47 We fund them $100,000 a year.
00:50 It follows a Federal Court ruling that EDO lawyers engaged in a subtle form of coaching of Tiwi witnesses
00:56 around the location of dreaming sites near Santos' Barossa gas pipeline.
01:01 At risk? $8 million in Federal funding for the EDO.
01:05 But the Law Council says defunding the organisation would be a step in the wrong direction.
01:11 I think that would be a very unfortunate retrograde step based on a single instance
01:17 where there may have been some adverse commentary in one particular case.
01:22 About 200,000 Australians access community legal services every year and the EDO is just one of them.
01:29 If we weren't around, they would not be getting legal assistance.
01:33 So in those circumstances, people don't get to enforce their rights.
01:37 They often don't pursue their rights at all.
01:39 They dip out of the process and they are fundamentally disadvantaged.
01:43 In a statement, the EDO said without their services, grandparents, young people,
01:48 charities and community groups would be denied access to the legal system.
01:52 The Federal Government did not say whether it would cut any of the EDO's funding,
01:56 just that it takes the Mancara-Santos judgement seriously.
02:00 For more information, visit www.fema.gov