- Greens MP Michael Berkman has questioned the Arts Minister in Parliament about legal advice which says the Queensland Museum’s “Future Makers” partnership with gas producer Shell likely breaches its legal obligations under the Queensland Museum Act 1970.
- The Minister said on Wednesday that he hadn’t read the advice (despite confirmation from his office that it had been received and passed on*), but the link between Shell’s gas emissions and the partnership’s legality was a “specious line” to draw.
- The legal advice, prepared by the Environmental Defenders Office, states that the partnership is “inconsistent with the objectives of the Queensland Museum” as the greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas including Shell’s current and planned gas operations “are having direct impacts on Queensland’s natural heritage” through climate change, and on Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage due to sea level rise. The Act includes a principle that “leadership and excellence should be provided in the preservation, research and communication of Queensland’s cultural and natural heritage”.
- The Greens are joining climate communications organisation Comms Declare, who commissioned the legal advice, in calling for the Arts Minister to intervene and end the partnership with Shell.
Greens MP for Maiwar Michael Berkman:
“Our publicly owned cultural institutions should be working for Queensland’s heritage, not against it.
“The Queensland Museum is basically running a marketing campaign for a fossil fuel company whose operations are directly responsible for wrecking the Great Barrier Reef and destroying cultural heritage in the Torres Strait.
“Frankly no Queensland Government institution should have sponsorship or marketing arrangements with fossil fuel companies, especially when you look at the climate risk assessment report that was just released.
“We know what’s in store for Queensland if more coal and gas is approved - deadly heatwaves, flooding 300 days a year, and hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed by sea level rises.
“Call me a crazy Greenie, but I don’t reckon taxpayer dollars should be used on a social licence for the very companies driving the climate crisis.”
Comms Declare CEO Belinda Noble:
“Queensland Parliament clearly wanted the state's museums to be a place where nature and heritage were celebrated and protected.
“Instead they are being used to launder the reputation of one of the world's largest climate polluters.
“We ask the government to drop Shell and protect children from cynical marketing ploys dressed up as education."