Pride WA, Drop Woodside as a corporate sponsor.
We are a collective of individuals writing to demand that Pride WA remove Woodside as sponsors of Pride WA. The actions of Woodside Petroleum Ltd pose an existential threat to many communities in WA through the continuing unchecked environmental devastation and the destruction of country and first nations history. The presence of Woodside and other corporate sponsors in the pride Parade also displaces queer people. We see Woodside’s involvement in Pride WA as an example of corporate rainbow-washing that boosts Woodside’s PR and cheapens Pride’s message.

Green washing is the process of donating to or supporting an organisation or event to peruse the end of improving the image of an organisation of individual. Rainbow washing achieves this through a faux support of queer people, organisations, events, or groups. In fact, Woodsides name and logo are an example of greenwashing, projecting an image of healthy landscapes, while as a mining company most of their activities are highly environmentally destructive. We hold that Woodsides interests in Pride WA are not from a legitimate interest in supporting the queer community, but simply to improve the tattered image of their destructive brand. 

Woodside’s Scarborough Gas Project, being constructed off the coast of Northern WA and the associated Burrup Hub threatens to release up to 6 billion tonnes of carbon in its lifetime. This would be the equivalent of the entire annual emissions of New Zealand, Norway and Bolivia combined and would make the project the most polluting development in Australia’s history.

The offshore drilling also threatens the Scott Reef, a habitat for turtles, blue whales, dolphins, and other marine life. In a time when we should be looking to safeguard our biodiversity and reduce carbon emissions, it is unacceptable to promote Woodside or their actions.

The Burrup hub also threatens spiritually significant aboriginal sites. Up to 10,000 pieces of Aboriginal rock art are threatened at the site. These rock art, created through hundreds of generations, connect the Kuruma Marthudunera people with their history, lore, and land. Australian mining companies have shown a total disregard for Aboriginal land rights and sacred sites, with Rio-Tinto having blown up a cave of spiritual significance in the Pilbara reign in 2020. The Burrup art sites, threatened by woodside, are irreplaceable, immovable, and spiritually significant.

Woodside has continuously proven themselves to be one of the largest political doners in Australia, last year donating $335,415 to both sides of politics irrespective of the party’s perspective on queer rights. These donations buy access to politicians to farther Woodsides economic interests, often at the expense of aboriginal Interests, however over the years it has enabled major Australian parties to peruse anti-queer policies like the gay marriage plebiscite No Campaign, and the religious (right to) discriminate bill.  

We as the queer community do not sell our culture, we do not accept Woodside’s illegitimate marketing ploy, and we do not accept their blood money. 

 

Demands: 

Put Aboriginals Australians first.  

Respecting the wishes and land rights of Indigenous Australians should always come before promoting a corporate sponsor. Sponsors who clash with the interests of Aboriginal Australians should be dropped. In addition there should be no float fee’s for First Nations groups.

Kick Woodside out of the annual pride parade. 

If we are wrong and Woodside has a legitimate interest in supporting queer community organisations, then they will happily do so without the ability to rainbow wash their brand at the annual pride parade.

Drop Woodside as a corporate sponsor. 

We as the queer community do not accept the blood money of Woodside. Money earned through a processed destructive to the climate, the environment, or aboriginal land should not be accepted by Pride WA, or any queer organisation. 

Create a sponsorship policy requiring sponsors be ethical companies. 

Although the target of this petition is specifically Woodside, Pride WA should have a consistent policy requiring sponsors do not engage in political donations to queerphobic political parties or organisations, engage in environmentally devastating activities, or be at odds with the interests of Indigenous people (in Australia or elsewhere in the case of international organisations). 

Create a hard limit on spaces allocated to corporate non-queer organisations, including corporate ally organisations. 

Ideally there should be no corporations at pride, but there is no justification for there being higher then 20% of the parade.