Monash ends lucrative partnership with fossil fuel giant Woodside

3 weeks ago 13

Monash University has ended a $43 million partnership with Woodside Energy, seeking to remove any “ambiguity” about its relationship with the fossil fuel giant.

The university’s philanthropic partnership – which included naming rights over a building at its Clayton campus – had been the source of sustained criticism by staff and students.

The Woodside Building for Technology and Design at Monash University.

The multi-award winning Woodside Building for Technology and Design will now again be known as Building 94, until a new name is selected.

The announcement draws a spotlight on the growing tendency for fossil fuel companies to seek partnerships with organisations including universities.

Woodside has also engaged in a financial partnership with the WA Museum for 28 years, and has naming rights over Surf Life Saving WA’s Woodside Nippers.

Some 20 fossil fuel company-funded scholarships have been offered recently across the country, including a $10,000 Santos Earth Sciences Scholarship at the University of Queensland, and a $40,000 Glencore Corporate Scholarship at the University of Wollongong.

The Woodside Building will be renamed as part of the end of the current partnership.

Monash University Vice Chancellor Sharon Pickering announced the end of the Woodside agreement to the academic board on Tuesday, adding that the decision was taken as a result of an internal review and consultation, including with staff and students.

“What has been abundantly clear through communications with our broader community is they expect us to work in alignment with our values and, indeed, to ensure that we are always partnering well,” Pickering told a Senate inquiry on Wednesday.

However, she said, the Engineering Faculty at the university would continue to consider partnerships with Woodside, “or others”.

A Monash University spokesman declined to answer specific questions about the terms of the “philanthropic agreement” with Woodside, but said that Monash was proud of the work that had been accomplished through the collaboration.

Woodside Energy has poured at least $43 million into Monash University over the past six years.

“Managing our ESG [environmental, social and governance] commitment, [and] meeting the expectations of our community, our research collaborations and our primary commitment to academic freedom, is complex,” the spokesman said.

“The Faculty of Engineering is well advanced in discussions about future areas of research collaboration with Woodside, such as decarbonisation, circular economy solutions and materials science. The Faculty of Engineering will continue to be supported to pursue future research and industry collaborations in line with our ESG commitments, our Responsible Partnership Framework and academic freedom.”

Carina Griffith, a double major law and science (climatology) student, started the Stop Woodside campaign at Monash. She said she had felt “thrilled, relieved, vindicated” when she heard the news that Monash would end its current arrangement with Woodside.

“They were getting social licence,” she said of Woodside’s relationship with Monash.

Members of the Stop Woodside Monash group celebrate outside the Woodside Building on Friday.

“That’s what the investment was [about]. It was the respectability of being attached to a public research institution in 2025 [and] justifying the continuation of the oil and gas industry when commonsense and scientific knowledge tells us that it’s no longer acceptable to be going drilling oil out of the ground off the coast of Western Australia.”

Dr Simon Campbell is a senior research fellow in the school of physics and astronomy who has been active in the campaign against Woodside’s prominent role at the university.

“Notwithstanding the success of Monash ending the partnership with Woodside, I am a little troubled that the vice chancellor said yesterday that Monash is still open to taking Woodside’s money,” Campbell said.

“Let’s be clear: this is dirty money – dirty because Woodside is chasing a massive expansion of its fossil fuel interests as global heating starts to bite and experts say no expansion is necessary to meet net zero.”

A Woodside spokeswoman said the relationship between the two entities would continue in some form, though it was not yet clear how the partnership would evolve.

“Woodside and Monash continue exploring ways to build on their decade-long research partnership, with a focus on shared priorities including decarbonisation technologies, circular economy solutions and advanced materials science,” she said.

“As part of these collaborative discussions, Monash and Woodside have mutually agreed to conclude one part of their broader research partnership, being the naming rights for the university’s Building for Technology and Design.”