INPEX has spilled oil into Darwin Harbour, exposed offshore workers to dangerous mercury, and been prosecuted for under-reporting toxic emissions by more than 100-fold, all in the past 12 months.
A letter from the US miner raised hope that the jarrah forest inland from Perth would escape its strip mining for bauxite, but Alcoa is keeping its options open.
Oil and gas giant Woodside's $12,100 donation to WA Labor last week is part of a $1.2 million torrent of corporate cash flowing in since May as the party fights to see off One Nation in the formerly safe seat of Secret Harbour.
Many big names in corporate WA feature among the top donors, but a company few have heard of leads the pack.
WA Labor has used its status as the governing party at both state and Federal levels, and its massive number of elected members on the public payroll, to capture 78 per cent of all WA political contributions since May 1, according to disclosures published by the WA Electoral Commission.
The August 29 by-election follows the resignation of Navy and SAS veteran Paul Papalia, announced on July 6, after almost two decades in Parliament.
In his place Labor has offered Georgia Tree, a long-term Labor Party apparatchik living more than 60 km from the electorate, who recently left the office of gas exporter-friendly Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King to join Woodside.
Exit polling of early voters this week suggested One Nation could win the seat, justifying Labor's clearly expensive campaign, but where is the money coming from?
As there was significant speculation that Papalia would depart well ahead of the announcement, Boiling Cold has analysed WA political contributions since May 1 to gauge the funds parties are raising ahead of the by-election. Donations to Perth Trades Hall were treated as donations to Labor.
Most of Labor's funds have come from gifts. It also has the unique revenue of affiliation fees from unions and huge inflows from its compulsory party levy on its elected members in WA.
In the most recent state and Federal elections, Labor gained 78 of the 124 seats in the WA Parliament and for the state's senators and representatives in Canberra. A levy on the income taxpayers pay these members has yielded $206,000 in just 15 weeks.
Pay to say - revenue from access to ministers
The big money, however, is from significant gifts - largely donated by companies and industry lobby groups.
All political parties raise money from events where companies pay to attend for the opportunity to have face time with senior elected members. The technique favours governing parties that can offer up Ministers who make decisions that may affect those companies.
This practise, while unsavoury to many voters, is legal. Boiling Cold does not suggest the Labor Party or any of its financial supporters have done anything that is not in accordance with the law.
Parties must disclose, as a gift, the profit they make from each attendee at a fundraising event by deducting the cost from the donation.
Disclosures since May reveal groups of disclosed gifts of identical but not round amounts that are almost certainly from these events.
It appears almost half the money Labour has raised since May 1 is from these cash-for-access events.
The attendance fees are likely to keep flowing, with a report that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will attend fundraising events when he travels to Perth next week.
The appetite to pay up can be explained by one attendee not authorised to talk to the media, who said it was the only way for their organisation to get its position put to the relevant ministers.
Of course, the expense shuts small companies, community groups and most non-government organisations out of the conversation.
Who is paying WA Labor?
The surprise top donor since May 1 is government affairs consultancy Anacta Strategies, which has made 12 donations in 15 weeks, totalling $81,502.
Anacta, like its two competitors on the top donor list, has strong connections to Labor.
An Anacta spokesman said none of the money it donated was on behalf of clients.
I worked in oil & gas in commercial and engineering roles for 20 years. Since 2016, I have written for The West Australian, WAtoday, The Guardian and Boiling Cold, winning five WA Media Awards.
INPEX has spilled oil into Darwin Harbour, exposed offshore workers to dangerous mercury, and been prosecuted for under-reporting toxic emissions by more than 100-fold, all in the past 12 months.
