Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee, , 49:16 to 1:04:04
Discussion shifts to the feasibility of tracking Russian crude oil and the indirect involvement of major Australian superannuation funds in Russian energy terminals.
Topics: National security, Trade policy
Speakers: Mark Corcoran, Hon Sarah Henderson, Jessica Collins, Unknown Speaker, Rebecca Bryant
other questions? Um, Senator Jipper >> No, I >> uh I'll now um hand over to Senator
>> Thank you, Chair, and um uh thank you to the witnesses for your evidence today. Mr. Cowan, you said before that uh there is publicly available software allowing you to track these ships quite closely. Um thank you for doing that work. I'm just wondering whether you're aware of whether the Australian government is tracking them as closely as you are.
I I don't see a lot of evidence though. Um and but it it could be the opacity of the organization but um I'm I'm not seeing it. Uh Dr. Moenko mentioned uh the work of uh Ka who uh should be appearing later on in this inquiry. Um they do very good work with um with with tracking and I do a lot of cooperation with uh data sourcing through them. But uh the there's there is commercial data available um and it it's within the reach of the Australian government to use that commercial data. um it's it's the data that I'm using and uh so I don't understand if they're not using it for um such a a critical um surveillance
>> and there wasn't any um you didn't get any sense of change of direction or urgency from the government when the EU
>> No, I'm I'm not um I'm not seeing any change so far. There have been um uh some changes. For instance, they've expanded the the um tanker sanctions in number. Uh but then I'm not sure that the tanker sanctions um in our part of the world, I'm not sure that the tanker sanctions are actually um that critical. It's it's more about banning the product that um has Russian material in it. That would
>> And do you think u just given your evidence before you know we did hear how complex it is but but um you know given your expertise you think it is possible to be able to identify uh the the Russian crude oil that is making its way into the supply chains of um Australian oil supplies. Well, I've
I've been doing it for I focus on particular places uh India um and then I moved on to Singapore and then Malaysia and um I I don't see the uh I mean it is complex but it's it's it's not unachievable. Um, my numbers tend to line up with uh people in Europe and um sometimes tankers in the shadow fleet turn off their transponders and then they turn them back on again halfway around the world, but you can still see um roughly what's happening. Uh yes, it's it's not always that easy, but um it should be within the capability of either um uh ASO or um or border force or the uh
>> should be within their capabilities. >> Thank you very much. That is very helpful. Um to Miss Bryant, I just wondering about the Mindaroo Foundation. You do a lot of uh good work in Ukraine. Um uh uh you you do uh does a Menu Foundation invest in a lot of big projects that might use um oil itself?
>> No, Senator, we don't.
>> Okay. Uh with the work that you're doing in Ukraine, are you aware of uh whether uh the Ukrainian government or the military um is able to track its own supply chains of of oil that it's using for its own war?
>> I'm not aware of the war. I'm afraid I don't have any knowledge of that,
>> Okay. So, uh uh Mr. Carrigan, do you know if any work is being done in Ukraine on tracking its supply chains and oil?
>> Um absolutely. Uh in my submission, I I've mentioned um three tankers that were disabled by Ukrainian armed forces that two of them were in the Black Sea, one was in the Mediterranean. And one of the points that I made was that uh in Australia not taking action uh Ukraine is then forced to do the dirty work um and use precious uh defense expenditure to uh disable Russia's oil trade. And it's I find it embarrassing as an Australian that um that we're still using Russian fuel in our supply chain while they're trying to uh to take out the tankers.
>> Are we are we sending oil any oil over to Ukraine ourselves? >> Okay. All right. That's very helpful evidence. Thank you very much, Mr. Carrigan. And thank you, Miss Bryant.
It's over. Uh, thank you very much, Senator Collins. Uh, Mr. Carrigan, you've raised the idea of entities producing a sanctioned product exposure statement, something along those lines, to investors. Could you just expand on how you think that might work? >> Can we just do that?
>> I I was thinking of how how we might be able to respond. Um, it's probably the lightest response that I' I'd hope for. the the surprise was that we have these entities such as um IFM investors which is a massive uh investment vehicle for uh Australian industry super and the fact that uh that they have holdings in in uh terminals that are handling Russian oil was um was I found it shocking And uh then when uh that was dealt with in the in the media and then it came out that future fund also has holdings um and other superanuation funds that um uh that I didn't know about also had had holdings in in these um terminals that handle Russian fuel. I thought the it it could be like the requirement for uh uh entities uh doing declarations on modern slavery. Um but in that particular case there's not really much obligation to for them to divest or to uh do anything that is substantive. But at least it would inform investors that in investing in this superanual superanuation fund or in a in an equity fund that um they can go in with their eyes wide open that if I put money into this fund then I'm helping Russia.
>> Can you just provide us with a bit more detail about the situation with IM investors and any other superanuation
company. I came across uh that accidentally when I was looking at Malaysia uh looking at the ownership of a terminal uh ATB in Jahore and um then it turned out that it sorry I'm mentioning VTOL again but VTOL and IFM uh are equal holders in in that um uh entity
>> and this is VTO tank terminals
combined >> uh u entity is VTTI.
>> Yep. >> Okay. So that's the entity that's got ownership by both VTOL and by IFM. >> Yeah. >> And the this is the this is the terminal which is operate being operated in Malaysia. >> Yeah. And so from what I understand, it's reportedly handling over handling over 1 million tons of Russian refined products since January 2024.
>> So uh so I knew that I could see that Russian oil was coming into it and um uh that um there was Australian ownership so that that was the surprising part. VTTI have got um terminals across the world uh which so it includes IFM ownership of those terminals. Not all of them deal with uh Russian product but uh uh they do in um I found not as much as Malaysia but they did have some shipments from Russia going into their uh South Africa um terminal and an Argentinian terminal as well. a small amount. The big the big amount was going through Malaysia.
>> And so do are you aware of any other involvement by any other Australian superanuation entity in relation to direct or indirect ownership of property across Malaysia? >> Yeah, which supports the importation or other Australian superanuation entity which has any other ownership of any >> any property or other concerns >> relating to Russian crude.
>> Yep. Mcquaryy Bank has holdings in uh in Journey not Jour um Jurong um Port Universal Terminal. there was quite a large amount of uh Russian refined product going into that terminal and also into the adjacent terminal which is not owned by Australians but um uh that was Horizon terminal but there's a they're right next door to each other and there's a pipeline between them and so they they can uh shuffle product u so it was of concern that Mcquary Bank had holdings in that terminal was taking Russian refined product, but also that uh Australian importers were taking product from that terminal. And so there was a a supply, it was in our supply chain. It was also it also had holdings by Australian entities.
And look, I just want to refer in particular to an article by Matthew not published in the uh Sydney Morning Herald on the 20th of November, 2025. uh and that is entitled Australia's biggest super funds accused of profiting from Russian blood oil. Some of Australia's biggest superenuation funds have been accused of profiting from shipments of Russian oil passing through Southeast Asia, raising fears that Australians retirement savings are helping fund Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine. That's the first and opening paragraph. very happy um to table that article, but that's a very serious concern clearly to anyone who's seeking to invest in a superanuation firm under circumstances where they may not know all of the interest. So what obligation do you believe the government has to ensure that there is appropriate action and transparency in relation to
when um and history history history is a funny thing but Senator Hume I think when she was superanuation minister and uh then treasurer Friedenberg u at the outbreak of uh of the full-scale invasion they called for Australian entities to divest >> um of investments in Russia they it was early days it was the month after the outbreak Um, I think that needs to be extended. That call needs to be extended to um, uh, to entities that have got investments that are handling Russian fuel. Um, like McQuary Bank in Singapore and uh, IFM investors and associated funds in uh, Malaysia. Uh I do know that once that article came out there was a flurry of activity amongst superanuation funds to find out what their actual exposure was because it's it it's I don't know whether it was a surprise to them but uh it sounded like it was a surprise uh and that they weren't uh following what uh if investors was doing on their behalf.
Are there any other investments about which you know or are concerned?
>> One particular uh equity fund um is particularly disturbing uh has holdings in uh Fujera uh Prostar I've reported that uh because I thought it was so blatant. um uh a large amount of I haven't got the investigative uh ability um but what I could see was that uh they were showing up as the buyer as one of the buyers of a lot of Russian material going to a terminal that they uh part owner and they used to 90% own an adjacent terminal in Fuera I I haven't uh I don't know that uh that is being followed up by Australian authorities. I haven't had a response uh and I I uh reported it in November.