Perth Voice Interactive

PERTH city council gave $24,547 of ratepayers’ money to a kids’ science exhibition spruiking liquefied natural gas, held over the Easter school holidays and in the same week Perth is hosting the 18th LNG conference.

Elected members voted unanimously in February to sponsor Scitech Does Gas, paying for the event’s marquee hire and security, and providing in-kind support, including free hire of Forrest Place and promotion.

“The show will be based on the scientific properties of LNG and how those properties are harnessed to solve problems and benefit society,” stated the officer’s report.

The week-long exhibition, aimed at school kids and families, started Monday, just days after a delegation of mid-west farmers arrived at state parliament to lobby MPs of all political parties about the dangers of fracking to water supplies.

We asked lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi where the line between commercial sponsorship and kids’ education starts and ends, and if she was comfortable with the council sponsoring an event associated with the controversial process of fracking; but she didn’t get back to us.

Scitech communications officer Tomi Ellis says the event is not part of the formal proceedings of the LNG18 Conference: “Scitech Does Gas is not sponsored by and does not have any connection with any gas, petroleum or oil company,” she says.  “Scitech had been appointed by the state government to deliver this event for the WA community in partnership with the city of Perth. While we work with different industry partners to achieve our goals in science education, we do not promote any one industry or practice.”

The WA government is hosting LNG18 and Chevron, Woodside Energy and Shell are principal sponsors.

In last week’s edition of ED!, the “education magazine” supplement inside The West Australian newspaper, there was a two-page feature on liquified natural gas (LNG) and a section promoting Scitech Does Gas.

The feature includes “3. What a Fracas!” which states a two-year parliamentary inquiry found fracking posed “negligible” risk in WA, while acknowledging it caused serious problems and contamination of drinking water in some parts of the world. The feature includes photographs supplied by Woodside, Chevron and Shell Australia and was not marked as advertising or promotion.

We asked ED! editor Gail Anthony whether the two-page feature was independent journalism or commissioned content; she passed us up the chain to West editor Brett McCarthy, who declined to comment.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK