A Labor minister in charge of regulating Australia's gas industry has been slammed for accepting AFL tickets from Woodside.
By NICHOLAS COMINO, POLITICAL REPORTER, AUSTRALIA
Published: 10:37 BST, 16 September 2026 | Updated: 10:44 BST, 16 September 2026
Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King is under fire after accepting AFL tickets from Woodside Energy.
Parliamentary disclosures updated on Tuesday reveal Woodside gave the WA minister four tickets to Fremantle's clash with Greater Western Sydney on July 14.
The revelation has sparked fury, with the gas giant at the centre of some of the biggest policy decisions to cross King's desk.
King is overseeing Labor's plans to force gas exporters to reserve more supply for the domestic market. On top of this, there is intense debate over whether the Australian public is receiving a fair return on the gas that is exported, which makes companies like Woodside and its peers billions in profits.
The minister in charge of developing rules for the gas industry accepting hospitality from one of its biggest players has raised eyebrows in Canberra, with questions asked about Labor being too close to the companies it's supposed to regulate.
Independent Senator David Pocock said the disclosure risked shaking public confidence in government decision-making.
'It appears Minister King has been accepting gifts from Woodside at the same time as she decides policies that govern the company,' he told Daily Mail .
'The Minister is currently co-designing the gas reservation policy, running the Future Gas Strategy, and deciding which new areas are opened up for gas exploration.
Madeleine King (left) accepted tickets to an AFL match sponsored by Woodside Energy
The Labor government is considering whether to make miners hold back more gas for Australia rather than export it, where it gets a higher price
'Woodside has a commercial stake in every one of those decisions.'
Pocock said Australians expected decisions affecting powerful industries to be made free from outside influence.
'Australians want to be sure that government decisions are made on the merits, and this disclosure casts doubt on that,' he said.
He argued this was part of a wider problem around the relationship between politicians and the resources sector.
'Resources ministers usually leave office and walk into the industry they spent years regulating,' Pocock said.
'The disclosure shows that the relationship doesn't start when they leave, it starts while they're still in the job.'
Greens senator Steph Hodgins-May was equally scathing.
'We can't trust Labor to write a gas reservation policy in the public interest when its ministers are taking freebies from the gas companies they're claiming to regulate,' she said.
Pocock (pictured) said that the gift was questionable due to King's role in gas policy design
Woodside is one of Australia largest natural gas miners and exporters
'People deserve to know whose interests are shaping Labor's gas policy: theirs, or the gas companies giving them free tickets to the footy.'
The backlash comes just days after Labor unveiled draft legislation for Australia's first national gas reservation scheme.
The proposal would require exporters to divert up to 20 per cent of production into the domestic market from 2028, with the Government claiming the policy could lift supply and help lower energy prices.
But the plan has already attracted criticism from both environmental campaigners and political opponents, who say it was diluted after consultation with the gas industry.
King has long been a lightning rod in debate over Australia's gas future.
She has repeatedly been forced to defend government decisions affecting Woodside's controversial Burrup Hub and Browse projects, which have been accused as being a 'climate bomb' by environmental and Indigenous groups.
A spokesperson for Minister King told Daily Mail: 'The Minister declares relevant interests in accordance with the requirements of Parliament.'