❓ Ravlich questions Faragher about potential conflicts of interest due to her husband's Woodside shares. Faragher outlines her process for declaring conflicts.
AnsweredQoN 81Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT — CONFLICT OF INTEREST 81. Hon LJILJANNA RAVLICH to the Minister for Environment: I refer to the minister’s response yesterday in which she revealed publicly for the first time that her husband has some Woodside shares as a result of his being an employee at Woodside. In light of the fact that Woodside is the largest publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production company and operates more than 75 joint ventures on behalf of 39 participants in Australia, Africa and the United States — (1) Does the minister know which of Woodside’s 39 participants are involved in its 75 joint ventures? (2) If not, how will the minister know when to declare a conflict of interest, given that her husband holds shares in Woodside? (3) How will the minister know which cabinet decisions to absent herself from? Hon DONNA FARAGHER
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for this question. (1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT — CONFLICT OF INTEREST
I refer to the minister’s response yesterday in which she revealed publicly for the first time that her husband has some Woodside shares as a result of his being an employee at Woodside. In light of the fact that Woodside is the largest publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production company and operates more than 75 joint ventures on behalf of 39 participants in Australia, Africa and the United States — (1) Does the minister know which of Woodside’s 39 participants are involved in its 75 joint ventures? (2) If not, how will the minister know when to declare a conflict of interest, given that her husband holds shares in Woodside? (3) How will the minister know which cabinet decisions to absent herself from? Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: I thank the member for this question. (1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
(1) Does the minister know which of Woodside’s 39 participants are involved in its 75 joint ventures? (2) If not, how will the minister know when to declare a conflict of interest, given that her husband holds shares in Woodside? (3) How will the minister know which cabinet decisions to absent herself from? Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: I thank the member for this question. (1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
(2) If not, how will the minister know when to declare a conflict of interest, given that her husband holds shares in Woodside? (3) How will the minister know which cabinet decisions to absent herself from? Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: I thank the member for this question. (1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
(3) How will the minister know which cabinet decisions to absent herself from? Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: I thank the member for this question. (1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: I thank the member for this question. (1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
I thank the member for this question. (1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
(1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT — CONFLICT OF INTEREST
I refer to the minister’s response yesterday in which she revealed publicly for the first time that her husband has some Woodside shares as a result of his being an employee at Woodside. In light of the fact that Woodside is the largest publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production company and operates more than 75 joint ventures on behalf of 39 participants in Australia, Africa and the United States — (1) Does the minister know which of Woodside’s 39 participants are involved in its 75 joint ventures? (2) If not, how will the minister know when to declare a conflict of interest, given that her husband holds shares in Woodside? (3) How will the minister know which cabinet decisions to absent herself from? Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: I thank the member for this question. (1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
(1) Does the minister know which of Woodside’s 39 participants are involved in its 75 joint ventures? (2) If not, how will the minister know when to declare a conflict of interest, given that her husband holds shares in Woodside? (3) How will the minister know which cabinet decisions to absent herself from? Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: I thank the member for this question. (1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
(2) If not, how will the minister know when to declare a conflict of interest, given that her husband holds shares in Woodside? (3) How will the minister know which cabinet decisions to absent herself from? Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: I thank the member for this question. (1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
(3) How will the minister know which cabinet decisions to absent herself from? Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: I thank the member for this question. (1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied: I thank the member for this question. (1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
I thank the member for this question. (1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
(1)-(3) Yes, my husband, as we know, does work for Woodside. With respect to the partners, off the top of my head I do not know every single one. However, having said that, what has been put in place is that should a company meet with me and have involvement with Woodside as a joint venturer, I would declare, and have already done so — Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : Will you be asking questions? The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
The PRESIDENT : Order! Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich has asked a question of the Minister for Environment. If she wants to ask another question, I will put her on the list. Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
Hon DONNA FARAGHER : In those circumstances, at the very beginning of the meeting I would make the same declaration as I would for any other group if it wanted to talk to me about Woodside—an environmental group for example. I would say to the group, “As you may be aware, my husband works for Woodside and I have a declared conflict of interest. Are there any issues that you are going to raise with me that involve Woodside, perhaps with respect to an approval?” That would then give them, obviously, the opportunity to tell me. That is the process and that is already being done. It is a clear process. I would make that declaration, and I have already done that in a couple of cases.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.